The 75th Anniversary of the UNESCAP and the 78th session of the UNESCAP under the theme “A common agenda to advance sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific” were held in hybrid mode from 23- 27 May 2022 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. The Sri Lanka delegation was led by Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UNESCAP,C.A. Chaminda I. Colonne and included the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, First Secretary A.W.S. Samanmali, and First Secretary (Commercial) Vireshika Bandara of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Bangkok.
Sri Lanka became a Member of ESCAP in 1954. On behalf of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Government and the People of Sri Lanka, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UNESCAP, Chaminda Colonne extended greetings on the 75th Anniversary of UNESCAP and apprecaited the continuous support provided for the development of Sri Lanka.
In the country statement delivered by Ambassador Colonne, she stated that Sri Lanka was in 10th place out of 53 countries in the Asia-Pacific region in SDGas per available date. In the South and South-West Asia region, Sri Lanka ranked at 3rd place, showing its’ commitment to promote transparency and accountability through open SDG Data. She highlighted the increased public and private investments in renewable energy generation, the efforts taken to strengthen transport connectivity to provide clean drinking water, digital governance, stronger law enforcement and rights protection regimes through digitization and court automation, comprehensive legal reforms etc. in Sri Lanka.
She further added that “additional COVID-19 related spending in health for rapid vaccination and social protection measures including moratoriums on loans, tax reductions and other concessions, coupled with a significant drop in tourism revenue has resulted in a significant increase in the country’s fiscal deficit and public financing needs. Similarly, the pandemic significantly impacted the SMEs, 75% of the Sri Lankan economy and 45 % of the employment sector. The macroeconomic imbalances in the economy, which were triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic that unearthed long-standing structural issues resulted in the ongoing economic distress in Sri Lanka in a level never experienced in its history. Political stability is currently being established gradually, significant monetary tightening by the Central Bank is being carried out while policy measures to stabilize the external sector are also being implemented”.
Concluding Sri Lanka’s country statement, Ambassador Colonne emphasised that “Sri Lanka faces a significant and immediate challenge to regain economic stability while also facing the challenge of identifying ways to finance the SDGs and to ensure that hard-earned development outcomes are not reversed in the post-pandemic era, and appealed to the Economic and Social Commission of the Asia Pacific Region to request their respective Government and multilateral regional institutions affiliated to ESCAP to put forward the current need of emergency financing of Sri Lanka as a priority item in the agenda.
The Governor of the Central Bank Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe addressed the Ministerial segment titled “Special Body of Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Pacific Island Developing States”. He stated that “Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures. The policy action that seem extreme under normal circumstances might start to look highly appropriate during the times of economic adversity. The signs of crisis are looming all over the world and given the unfavourable conditions in the global economy, the developing countries should be prepared for the worse. After all, the crisis could be perceived as an opportunity to build up the resilience of the economy to avoid the future crisis by undertaking further structural reforms”.
The Ambassador and the Governor of the Central Bankstated that while meeting sustainable development goals remains a significant priority, the Central Bank has estimated a significant bridging financing of USD 6.3 bn requirement in the second half of 2022 to provide for the basic imports necessary to sustain the livelihoods of the country’s citizens and to keep the fundamental economic activities ongoing. Sri Lanka needs to work closely with bilateral and multilateral partners for bridging finance.
They emphasized that the inter national community and funding agencies can play a major role in supporting Sri Lanka during the adjustment period to restore the country’s fiscal and external sector stability while ensuring inclusive economic growth and development going forward. They added that regional countries are an important part of the tourism sector and if adverse travel advisories are issued to prospective tourists, the expected recovery of the tourism sector will be imperiled. The Sri Lankan economy is envisaged to record a gradual recovery over the medium term. The regional countries may extend assistance to such recovery by providing preferential market access for Sri Lanka’s exports by lowering tariffs, providing/increasing quotas or implementing special procurement schemes, and helping Sri Lankan industries in which they are specialised by providing technical assistance.
The President of the 76th session of the General Assembly Abdulla Shahid, President of the Economic and Social Council Collen Vixen Kelapile, Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Heads of States/ Government of Thailand, Indonesia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Cambodia, Fiji, Bangladesh, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Iran, China and Uzbekistan, made the opening addresses.
The Senior Minister, President of National Committee for ESCAP and First Vice President of Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance of Cambodia, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India, Minister for National Development Planning/ Head of Agency for National Development Planning of Indonesia, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lao, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Ambassador &Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan and the Deputy Prime Minister of Viet Nam attended the sessions in person.
The five-day annual session attended by more than 500 participants from 51 member States and associate members as well as other stakeholder groups, provided an opportunity to discuss and shape the future of regional cooperation centered on a new form of multilateralism and regional cooperation and to adopt the Bangkok declaration commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the UNESCAP.
During the elections held on the side lines of the 78th Session, Sri Lanka’s candidate Director General of Department of Agriculture of Sri Lanka S.H.A. De Silva was elected to the Governing Council of the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM) for the term 2022-2024.
Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Bangkok
15 June, 2022
