ITC, UNWTO call for int'l action to help small island states recover from hit of COVID-19

Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-29 23:29:44|Editor: huaxia

MADRID, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) have urged the international community to support Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in their recovery from the hit of COVID-19 pandemic.

Dorothy Tembo, acting executive director of the ITC, and Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary-general of the UNWTO, said in a document sent to Xinhua on Monday that the COVID-19 global pandemic has hard hit SIDS with disruptions in tourism, global supply chains and increased import costs.

According to the two organizations, tourism is a lifeline for many small islands, as the industry accounts for over 30 percent of the exports of most of SIDS and remains an essential job provider and source of tax revenue.

But impacted by COVID-19, UNWTO fears that international tourism could plummet at least 60 percent in 2020 even in the best-case scenario.

UNWTO has warned that international recovery may not start at least until 2021, urging the international community to support SIDS in the post-pandemic recovery.

Tembo and Pololikashvili have come up with a series of "bold" solutions they consider "essential" to help SIDS develop local strategies to recover from the pandemic.

For some SIDS, this might mean shifting local productions towards covering internal needs to lessen dependence on import and increase environmental sustainability.

They also suggested responses including embedding "blue economy" principles, building capacity of local supply industries in the hospitality ecosystem and facilitating investment with public-private collaboration.

Other solutions include supporting financial and technical capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to build back operations so that they are safe and sanitary and taking the period to train tourism workers and make SIDS more competitive, the directors said.

They also underlined the importance of long-term support for scaling up SIDS' digital infrastructure and skills.

Tembo and Pololikashvili believe putting some of these measures in place can contribute to building optimism so that SIDS can reposition themselves for sustainability.

The ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations that is fully dedicated to supporting the internationalization of SMEs. Enditem

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