The document discusses development partnerships for small states in a world of economic and financial turbulence. It notes that globalization and loss of trade preferences have increased costs for small island developing states while aid is focusing more on trade and economy. Regional integration and partnerships with neighboring regional organizations are key, as is reinforced functional cooperation to avoid duplication and maximize resources. Key partnerships include political dialogue, preparing states for challenges, recognizing regional identity, ensuring representation in forums, and improving donor coordination. The document concludes that partnerships are needed to achieve results for small states.

1. Commission de l’Océan Indien
Q4, Avenue Sir Guy Forget, Quatre-Bornes, Maurice
Tél: (230) 425 1652/425 9564, Fax: (230) 425 2709
www.coi-ioc.org

2. Small States in a World of Economic
and Financial turbulence
Raj MOHABEER
Officer in Charge of Economic Affaires
General secretariat
Indian Ocean Commission

3. What development partnerships for Small States in a
World of Economic and Financial turbulence?
CONTEXT:
• Globalisation: an accelerating process which even the
developed countries are not able to control individually, let
alone the SIDS; but the latter depend on the DC markets;
• Erosion of preferences & diminishing income, but increasing
costs for ensuring sustainability of resources;
• Aid already flowing more on trade and economy; with the
crisis, pessimism of aid but a more reinforced focus on
economy and less and less focus on the other aspects of SD.
• Emerging economies – the Asian tigers: what opportunities
and challenges?
• Economic development strategies based more on trade and
regional integration strategies;
• SIDS need for identifying new opportunities for economic
growth, maintain existing markets and try to access new and
larger markets access;
• >350 RTAs notified to WTO and EPA with EU; etc

4. Larger regional markets and partnerships
with neighbouring ROs
 Regionalisation is here and all the SS and SIDS are
involved in a Regional Integration process with each region
with its own model.
For the IOC perspective:
 RI very costly. For e.g the EU process – 25,000 personnel,
hundreds of institutions. Which SIDS region can afford
that?
 How far any SS/SIDS region can go in the process of RI?
 So what is IOC doing?
• RI process and EPA: e.g bottom-up approach, e.g
fisheries management, trying to follow the Pacific model
• promoting the sub-regional issues within the larger
region on the basis of subsidiarity
• Improved functional cooperation with common
strategies and programmes with neighbouring ROs

5. Reinforced functional cooperation
• Focus on sustainable development: so
as far as possible all the thre pillars of
SG are integrated in programmes;
• synergies and complementarities
amongst neighbouring ROs - IOC,
COMESA, SADC, EAC, IGAD and IOC’s
role
• Avoid duplication of actions,
maximisation of optimum use of scarce
resources whether human or financial –
RSP/RIP

6. Key partnerships
 Key partnerships:
• Reinforced political dialogue;
• Prepare the region and the economic actors to face the
challenges; for e.g this workshop needs to be adapted to every
stakeholder and replicated in the regions
• Recognise and add value to regional identity and for IOC, the
“indianoceanic” identify;
• Ensure adequate and regular representation in key regional
and international fora;
• Put in a system for the “valorisation” of regional experts and
elites, ensure a participatory approach involving all parties
concerned such as the youth, the women, the population, the
private sector and economic operators, parliamentarians,
NGOs, etc.
• Improve development partners and donors and set up a donor
coordination mechanism, monitor access to aid resources.
Ensure that Paris Declaration does note remain a “slogan”, but
there are concrete actions to oversee its application.

7. Processes
 IOC AfT Strategy;
 Projects, programmes and priorities;
 Networking and a large focus on
sustainability issues; so e.g UOI,
MCS, RTTP, etc

8. ISIDSMS
 Cooperation with the other SIDS
region;
 Focus on the best practices
worldwide;
 Mechanism for setting up a
permanent forum for us?...to move
this workshop move forward.

9. CONCLUSION:
partners = results
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10. We can…but together!
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11. Thanks