Held under the theme “Growth and Competitiveness in Small States” with a focus on investment, the 2004 Small States Forum took place on 3 October in Washington, DC.

The meeting was organized around a panel discussion that heard from both the private and public sectors, and addressed issues relating to competitiveness and resilience of small state economies from natural events, disease, globalization, as well as loss of trade preferences.
Delegates heard presentations from the Commonwealth Secretariat, the EU, the IMF, UNCTAD, the World Bank and the WTO on their activities relating to small states. Delegates also heard from Anwarul Chowdhury, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), who spoke on the 10-year UN review of the Barbados Programme of Action on the sustainable development of SIDS, which is slated to culminate in the Mauritius International Meeting in January 2005. Chowdhury urged prioritizing critical issues for SIDS and creating a proactive implementation and monitoring mechanism with a focus on involving regional bodies.
Hosted by the World Bank, the Small States Forum is held in conjunction with the Bank/IMF Annual Meetings to enable small state representatives and partner institutions to track progress on a number of issues relating to small states, discuss development challenges facing these states, and exchange ideas and experiences. More information.