DPM Professor Biman Prasad

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad, has argued that international development assistance is crucial for the Pacific.  

Speaking at the University of Melbourne in Australia, he stated that helping to reduce poverty in Pacific nations directly contributes to strengthening Australia’s security, potentially more so than military hardware like AUKUS.

Prasad says the current international development and finance systems, designed after World War II, need to be transformed.  

He states that the system must give a stronger voice to small island states at institutions like the IMF and World Bank.  

He stresses that development finance decisions should account for the unique vulnerabilities of these nations, especially regarding climate change, and that international institutions should offer substantial debt relief.

According to Professor Prasad the “lethal cocktail” of fiscal stress, climate stress, and disaster stress has created a massive infrastructure deficit in the Blue Pacific.

Prasad called this a “connectivity deficit,” where unmaintained roads disconnect farmers from markets, and washed-away bridges prevent children from reaching schools.

He adds the region needs an annual investment of $6-$8 billion AUD for infrastructure but currently receives just over $1 billion.  

To explain why costs are so high, he drew an analogy to Australia, where building a road in a remote area is more expensive.  

Similarly, he says on a remote Pacific island like Kadavu, the cost of a road can be five to seven times higher than in the capital, Suva.  

This is due to the high cost of shipping materials and a lack of local contractors.  

Additionally, Professor Prasad adds making infrastructure climate-resilient adds another 10-70% to the total cost.

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