Thank you Mr. Co-Chair,
Maldives aligns itself with the statement made by Bolivia on behalf of G77 and China and the statement delivered by Nauru on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
With regard to Focus Area 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies, rule of law, and capable institutions, the Maldives supports the targets identified by the co-chairs thus far. As an emerging democracy, the rule of law and stable, transparent institutions are among the Maldives’ highest priorities.
With regards to Focus Area 15, Means of Implementation/ Global partnership for sustainable development, the Maldives wishes to begin by congratulating both the co-chairs and our colleagues on their work and collaboration towards creating a streamlined text with specific targets for the SDG’s. However, when looking at the text, I note that out of 22 targets, only one has a concrete timeframe, while few are quantitative. We want to learn from the shortcomings of MDG8, and ensure the SDGs are better guided. That being said, we do have a few specific remarks.
The first point Maldives wishes to make is to welcomes the section on trade, for its focus on equity aimed at establishing a sustained long-term economic vision for growth and progress. With regards to target (c), we would propose referencing tourism and fisheries, as well as the addition of SIDS following on from ‘Least Developed Countries’ to highlight the vulnerability and importance of trade to isolated nations. The sentence would thus read:
“improve market access for tourism, fisheries, agricultural and industrial exports of developing countries, especially Least Developed Countries and SIDS, and at least double the share of these countries’ exports in global exports by 2020.”
Secondly, Maldives supports the proposal made by Papua New Guinea on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States, on technology transfer, including changing target (e) to read:
“establish and support relevant mechanisms for the transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound, affordable and appropriate technologies to developing countries.”
My third remark relates to section on strengthening global partnerships. We would only wish to make a minor alteration of further specifying that partnerships in cooperation should focus their attentions on the needs of developing countries. The proposed adjustment would add to the end of target (v) the following:
“with a focus towards sustainable development in developing countries”
Thank you, Co-Chair.
