Small island developing states must position themselves to take full advantage of opportunities to improve standards of living and accelerate economic growth.
Photo: RNZ / Jamie Tahana
That's the view given in the Asian Development Bank's Pacific Economic Monitor.
The monitor focuses on the development needs and challenges of the small Pacific states.
It notes the geographic and physical challenges faced by the states lead to elevated cost structures and heightened economic vulnerability, which severely constrains development prospects.
The ADB said those were further compounded by fragility from thin institutional capacities for effective governance and increased climate change risks.
The bank's directer general for the Pacific, Carmela Locsin, said development challenges stemming from vulnerability and fragility, which were further amplified by climate change, called for a differentiated approach to long-term development.
Sustainable development financing as well as innovative, fit-for-purpose strategies for institutional strengthening were central to that differentiated approach, she said.
