Fiji’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Ambassador Satyendra Prasad

Fiji has called on the United Nations, World Economic Forum and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to share their expertise.

The call also included the need to establish a COVID-SDG Transition Investment Fund using a blend of grant, concessional and private investments to assist the Pacific Small Island Developing States like Fiji in their recovery plans.

While addressing a meeting at the UN, Fiji’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Ambassador Satyendra Prasad says that such a fund should focus on investments that have high jobs opportunities; livelihoods and environmental impact.

Prasad spoke on the core elements of the plans to restore stability and growth in small states saying that a climate crisis, compounded by a health crisis and exacerbated further by an economic crisis has left Fiji and many SIDS bracing for a “coronavirus supercyclone” of the century.

He adds spiraling jobs and livelihoods tragedy looms and a global food crisis seems inevitable.

Small states are the most severely exposed to the unfolding human crisis triggered by the pandemic.

The Ambassador says Fiji knows painfully too well what destruction a Category 5 cyclone brings.

Tropical Cyclone Winston that hit Fiji in 2016 destroyed nearly a third of the Fijian economy and undoing generations of hard-won development progress.

Prasad says the “coronavirus supercyclone” is that Category 5 cyclone intensified several times over.

He states that before the pandemic, Fiji was making steady progress on two long term transitions.

He emphasised that Fiji now needs to manage a third transition, in terms of operating within COVID contained framework and managing the three transformations at the same time.

Ambassador Prasad adds small states need to work with their financial institutions to channel highly concessionary finance to communities; entrepreneurs and innovators for scalable green and blue investments.

It was also highlighted that “Blue SME’s are only now beginning to become mainstream.