His Excellency Vice President Uz Hussain Mohamed Latheef, on Tuesday, delivered his plenary statement at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), emphasising the importance of purposeful development guided by strategic planning and sustained investment.
In his statement, the Vice President highlighted that the global environment is marked by geopolitical tensions and conflicts that disrupt supply chains, increasing uncertainty and risks. He shed light on the development initiatives undertaken by the Government of Maldives despite global challenges and structural barriers in the international financial systems, including the establishment of international bunkering services and the Development Bank of Maldives to finance long-term social and economic progress.
The Vice President also shared with the fellow heads of delegations the Maldives’ efforts to expand trade partnerships aimed at boosting value-added fisheries exports and modernise the financial system through the Maldives International Financial Services Authority and develop the Maldives International Finance Centre as a financial free zone.
Additionally, the Vice President highlighted the Government's prioritisation in promoting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, focusing on empowering women and youth. He also called attention to the opening of the new terminal at Velana International Airport in July, tripling capacity to 7 million passengers as one of the several important steps taken towards becoming a developed country by 2040 and boosting resilience amid global uncertainty.
In his plenary statement, the Vice President affirmed the Maldives’ stance on debt relief for resilience-building, noting the inequalities in the current international financing system for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Remarking that for SIDS in particular, debt remains the greatest barrier to progress, he stated that SIDS are forced to rely on commercial borrowing for the basic needs of development, due to being ineligible for concessional finance to recover from external shocks.
Furthermore, the Vice President called for the Seville Commitment to be translated into concrete action, highlighting the need to provide countries with the space and tools for sustainable development. He stressed that achieving this requires courage, cooperation, and urgent reform of a global financial system that too often excludes the most vulnerable. Emphasising the Maldives’ position, he advocated for national capacity-building, meaningful debt relief, and bold, inclusive action to realise the 2030 Agenda for all countries, on their terms.
The Vice President is currently in Spain to attend the FfD4, taking place from June 30 to July 3, 2025, in Seville. FfD4 aims to unite and hold high level discussions on financial reform between governments, international and regional organisations, financial and trade institutions, businesses, civil society and the UN System.
