Small States Network for Economic Development

On October 19, 2007, on the eve of the 2007 Small States Forum  (SSF), the inaugural meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Small States Network for Economic Development was held in Washington, DC. This meeting formally activated the Network in accordance with the mandate of the 2006 SSF, held in Singapore. (The 2006 SSF mandate was distilled in a unanimously adopted Forum Resolution.)

Background.  At the 2005 SSF, the Government of Malta proposed the formation of a South-South Small States Network for Economic Development (SSNED). Between the 2005 and 2006 SSF, the World Bank worked with Malta to refine the proposal. In Singapore, at the 2006 SSF, Forum members charged Barbados, Malta, Mauritius, Samoa, St. Kitts & Nevis, Vanuatu, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the World Bank (who collectively comprise the Founding Members of the Network’s Board of Trustees) with reviewing a proposed governance statute for the Network, agreeing on and ratifying language of the statute, and activating the Network. In 2007, the statute was agreed upon and ratified, the inaugural meeting of the Board of Trustees was held, and the Acting Secretary of the Board reported out on these developments to the 2007 SSF. He also reported that the World Bank had fulfilled the mandate given by the 2006 SSF to develop a financing mechanism for the Network, including through its own funds, to support the Network’s initial operations. 

In the days since the 2007 SSF, the Network has been legally registered in Malta, in accordance with Maltese law, and it has acted to foster knowledge of the Network among small states so that, in the first instance, each country can consider whether to affiliate with the Network. (Article 7 (c) of the statute notes that membership “will be signified by a formal communication sent to the Network from an appropriate government representative”; and Article 7 (h) explicitly states that affiliation imposes no financial obligations on members.) Communications to the Network regarding affiliation may be addressed to the Chair of the Board of Trustees as follows: admin@ssned.org or to the Secretary of the Board of Trustees as follows: ssned@worldbank.org. We look forward to your country’s participation in the Network, recognizing that each small state has much to contribute toward addressing the challenges shared in common.

To date, 20 states (more than half of those attending the 2007 SSF) have affiliated with the Network, as follows:

1. Barbados

2. Malta

3. Mauritius

4. St. Kitts & Nevis

5. Samoa

6. Vanuatu

7. Cyprus

8. Antigua & Barbuda

9. Gambia

10. Grenada

11. St. Lucia

12. St. Vincent & the Grenadines

13.  Seychelles

14. Dominica

15. Bahamas

16.  Fiji

17. Namibia

18. Tonga

19. Iceland

20. Palau

Other news of note concerns the World Bank Development Grant Facility (DGF) Grant Agreement in support of SSNED. This grant, approved by the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, has been cleared and was immediately signed by Jeffrey Gutman, Vice President and Network Head, Operations Policy and Country Service (OPCS), World Bank. On March 20, the counter-signed agreement was delivered to OPCS, where it was promptly sent for processing for disbursement.

In addition, at the end of February 2008, the 2nd SSNED Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting was held in Malta.

• Representation.    The attending representatives were: Barbados (Grantley W. Smith, Director, Finance & Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance), Malta (Professor Lino Briguglio, University of Malta), Mauritius (Ali Mansoor, Financial Secretary), St. Kitts & Nevis (Ken Ballantyne, Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister), Samoa ( Benjamin Pereira, Assistant CEO, Economic Policy & Planning Division, Ministry of Finance), Vanuatu ( Simeon Athy, Director General for Finance and Economic Management, MoF), Commonwealth Secretariat (Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Director, Economic Affairs Division), World Bank (Kyle Peters, Director, OPCS).
• BoT outcomes.    The BoT: (i) approved the  Minutes of the first Board of Trustees meeting, held October 19, 2007; (ii) selected Malta as Board Chair, Barbados as Vice Chair, and Hank Chase as Board Secretary; (iii) agreed on a process of appointing a regionally representative eminent group comprised of experts recommended by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank to draft a provisional work program of the Network for consideration by the Board;(iv) requested the Commonwealth Secretariat to develop draft operating procedures for the Network; (v) mandated the Chair to initiate a process to develop a Network website; (vi) thanked the WB for its resource mobilization efforts as represented by the DGF Grant Agreement and work with the Isle of Man; and (vii) directed the World Bank to undertake outreach and resource mobilization activities, including (as regards the former) presentations at the WB/AfDB middle-income countries conference in Cairo in March and the Pacific Islands Forum Finance Ministers Meeting in Vanuatu in June.

Regarding (iii) above: your country’s voice should be heard during the process of formulating the work program!     However, this cannot happen if your country is not affiliated with the Network.

Following the BoT meeting in Malta, and in keeping with the Board’s directive, Mr. Chase attended the World Bank/African Development Bank-sponsored middle-income countries conference in Cairo, March 11-12.  (Most of the attending middle-income countries—Botswana, Gabon, Mauritius, Namibia, Swaziland —are small states.)    On the evening before the conference opened, Mauritius’ Ali Mansoor hosted a reception/discussion meeting for the African small states in attendance, and on the second day of the conference, Mr. Chase made a brief presentation on the Network.   Among the points made was that member states have yet to select, from each of the four regional grouping s of small states, a rotating member to serve on the Network’s Board of Trustees.  The intent is to encourage small states from each grouping to communicate among themselves so that a nomination for rotating Board member may be voiced at the 2008 Small States Forum, to be held in Washington, DC, in October 2008.

March-July 2008 Developments.    Since the last meeting of the SSNED Board of Trustees (BoT), progress has been registered on several administrative and programmatic fronts.

SSNED Secretariat.    Six candidates for the posts of administrator and part-time administrative assistant have been interviewed by a Selection Board composed of the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, Mr. David Pullicino, the head of the Central Bank’s Personnel Division, Mr. John Agius, and the SSNED BoT Chair, Professor Briguglio.  The Selection Board decided to offer the position of administrator to Mr. Stefano Moncada, an Italian national with an undergraduate degree in Economics and a master’s degree in International Relations, who has experience in development policy.  The Selection Board offered the administrative assistant post to Ms. Stephanie Vella, who holds a masters degree in Economics and has considerable experience in project management.

SSNED Procedures.  Several documents have been, or are being, prepared.

• Draft Network procurement rules have been drawn up and are being reviewed by BoT members.    
• A procurement document for development of the SSNED website has been prepared and three proposals have been solicited and will be reviewed in mid-July by a committee of three persons, including a representative of the Central Bank of Malta.
• The Commonwealth Secretariat is working on draft procedural rules to guide the Board’s decision-making on proposed projects, to establish a framework for travel and other expenses and regular reporting thereon, and to facilitate decision-making between Board meetings.

SSNED Work Program.    In keeping with the decision of the second BoT meeting, a group of regionally representative Eminent Persons has been approached accepted to form a panel to undertake a short-term assignment to draft a SSNED work program.  Panel members are: Mr. Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados (head of the panel); Mr. Kolone Vaai, former Financial Secretary, Government of Samoa (Pacific); Sir K. Dwight Venner, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Development Bank (Caribbean); Dr. Michael Frendo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Malta (Asia, Indian Ocean, and Europe), and Mr. Dumisani Masilela, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Swaziland.

After a preliminary review of relevant documents, the panel (absent Mr. Masilela) met in London, June 20-21, to compare first thoughts and set out the broad parameters of a selective work program that could meet the needs of all the Network’s regions.  The panel was joined by the Board Chair and Secretary.  The discussion focused on the provision of support services in following areas of activity:

• public sector institution building, principally aimed at modernizing the economy and facilitating participation in the world economy
• private sector development, principally aimed at developing institutional capacity needed to promote competitiveness
• private-public partnerships, aimed at adopting business methods in the efficient provision of services that have traditionally been provided by the public sector
• environmental mitigation, adaptation, and risk reduction
• education and training on issues of major concern for small states.
• The intention is to have a first draft of the work program prepared and circulated in mid-July by the Panel Chair and comments received from the other members; immediately after a consensus text is agreed, panel members would consult with colleagues in their regions, with a proposed late July deadline for responses.

Collaboration.   The Network is collaborating with the Commonwealth Secretariat to profile small developing states in order to assess their economic vulnerability and the policies in place that lead to resilience building, intended to enable small states to withstand or bounce back from external shocks.  The object of the exercise is to identify the main sources of vulnerability, such as high degree of economic openness and high dependence on a narrow range of exports.  It also involves identifying policies that lead to resilience building, including macroeconomic stability, microeconomic efficiency, good governance and social development.  The exercise will initially be piloted in two small island developing states, Seychelles and St. Lucia.  As part of this project, consultation conferences were organized in the two countries, in June, to involve stakeholders in the development of the country profile.  The Network Board Chair presented at both events, publicizing the Network.  (This collaboration entails no financial costs to the Network.)  Also in June, the Network Board Secretary delivered the keynote address at a COMESA workshop facilitated by the Regional Multidisciplinary Centre for Excellence in Mauritius, drawing attention (among other things) to the Network and conferring with small state representatives at the workshop.

SSNED Office.   The SSNED office at the Central Bank of Malta was formally inaugurated on July 1.  The event was covered by television, radio, and print media.  The Board Chair and Secretary made brief remarks before the floor was taken by the Minister of Finance of Malta.  Attendees included the British High Commissioner and the Ambassadors of Greece, Italy, and the United States.

August Update. Over the summer months, the members of the Eminent Persons panel developing a draft SSNED work program have been conferring with their colleagues throughout their respective regions for feedback and refinements on the first draft circulated earlier this summer. Also, the Network has three new members: Iceland, Palau, and Tonga. Important Notice: It is not too late to join the Network before the next meeting of the Small States Forum (October 11, 2008, in Washington, DC), and to access its services. Remember that according to Article 7 (c) of the Network statute, membership "will be signified by a formal communication sent to the Network from an appropriate government representative"; and that Article 7 (h) explicitly states that affiliation imposes no financial obligations on members. Communications to the Network regarding affiliation may be addressed to the Chair of the Board of Trustees as follows: admin@ssned.org or to the Secretary of the Board of Trustees as follows: ssned@worldbank.org. 

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