Commonwealth encourages G20 to protect smallest economies [1]
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 - 14:59. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
The Commonwealth is encouraging the G20 group of the world’s major economies to ensure that it protects and supports the development of smaller economies.
The Director of the Economic Affairs Division at the Commonwealth, Cyrus Rustomjee, told a meeting of the G20 Development Group in Moscow this week, that the world’s smallest economies needed to be protected.
“The needs, challenges and perspectives of the world’s smallest, poorest and most vulnerable economies need to be kept in mind by the G20 to ensure greater credibility and legitimacy of their work.”
The Advisor and Head of International Finance and Capital Markets at the Secretariat, Samantha Attridge told the G20 Development Group that there was a need to address enabling factors for boosting development in developing countries.
“Such development enablers include infrastructure, strengthening of national institutions, a fair global trading regime, migration, trade and investment and combating corruption.”
Ms Attridge said a survey of perspectives from developing countries showed there was a need for a bottom-up approach to accountability.
She said in the survey developing countries from the Commonwealth indicated that climate change, renewable energy, natural resource management, disaster risk reduction, health care and poverty reduction are critical areas that they would like to see considered by the G20.
Tonga
The Tongan economy is in a very depressed state, and the government's annual budget is being balanced with Budget Support funding by aid donors for the third year in a row.