SAMOA 2040;
KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY PRIME MINISTER TUILAEPA DR. SAILELE MALIELEGAOI TO LAUNCH THE SAMOA 2040 STRATEGY; 03rd March 2021, TATTE MAIN CONFERENCE ROOM MATAFELE
Father Lolesio Te’o
Honorable Ministers and members of Parliament,
Members of the Diplomatic Corp
Representatives of the Business Community
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is indeed a great honor for me on behalf of the government to welcome you all to this occasion marking the launch of the Samoa 2040 – the first ever 20-year plan for Samoa.
Taking a longer term vision over the horizon is a significant step in charting a path intended to realize sustainable development and better quality of life for our people. It is a task full of challenges because one is trying to forecast the future – a future we all know is full of uncertainties. We do not know what next week, next month or next year will bring. However using the statistics and data available as well as our own experience over the past many years backed up by the development agenda we intend to implement going forward, we are in a better position to make plausible projections of where we want Samoa’s development to be, in twenty years’ time. That is the gist of Samoa 2040. It is a demonstration of Samoa’s maturity as a nation.
Identifying the potential areas that can move Samoa to a higher growth trajectory is a central part of Samoa’s resilience building agenda. Samoa 2040 provides a roadmap to navigate Samoa’s development over the next twenty years. It sets out opportunities – in tourism, agriculture and fishing, digital economy, and labour mobility – that have the potential to boost economic growth, create employment, generate government revenues and raise standards of living. It lays out a platform to ensure the needs of present and future Samoan generations are met, and that no one is left behind.
We have the four year SDS that articulates our development agenda in the medium term covering the whole spectrum of development in terms of the economic, social, and environment space. The government is under no illusion that the future is an unknown an anything can happen. If the reality significantly shifts away from the projections, we also need to adjust our course but should never lose sight of the aspirational goal at the end of the tunnel.
This is a significant milestone in Samoa’s development planning and I congratulate all those who contribute to the formulation of this document. All the stakeholders representing the village communities, private sector, civil societies, as well as within government, I commend all your effort.
I must also commend the Policy Coordination Committee and the Ministry of Finance for providing guidance and steering the thinking to reflect Samoa’s key priority areas. I would also acknowledge the generous financial support from the World Bank which enabled the engagement of the local consultant who drafted the document.
I commend this document to you all.
Faafetai
