Presentation of the Digital Economy Report: Pacific Edition 2022
16 February 2023
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,
Good morning and a warm welcome to all participants.
I am pleased to join you for this event, which aims to unlock the Pacific’s digital development potential in an increasingly digital world.
Digital technologies are reshaping how we live, work, trade, create.
In the last four years, the number of people shopping online has increased from an estimated 1.3 billion in 2017 to over 2.3 billion today, a rate of increase of 250 million per year, or the equivalent of the whole population of Papua New Guinea every two weeks.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this process, and today the digital economy is at the forefront of the policy agenda for government leaders, the private sector and the international community.
In Pacific Island states, digital technologies and e-commerce have the potential to transform livelihoods by enhancing trade across sectors and industries.
The digital economy means small businesses can access new markets, reduce transaction costs, encourage financial inclusion and boost exports.
Small businesses, people living in rural areas, women and youth have the potential to benefit from e-commerce and the digital economy.
But such gains cannot be taken for granted.
So against this backdrop, it is my honour to announce today the launch of the UNCTAD Digital Economy Report: Pacific Edition 2022.
This is our first regional edition of this UNCTAD flagship publication and the first in-depth research report on the digital economy in the Pacific region.
We are very proud to share these “firsts” with you.
This report seeks to help Pacific Island states overcome some of their most pressing development challenges, including sparse and often isolated territories highly dependent to trade, as well as low broadband reach and unaffordable digital infrastructures.
Mobile broadband reaches only half of the territory of Pacific small island developing states (SIDS), when many countries in the world have already reached almost 100% broadband reach.
In Pacific SIDS, mobile subscriptions are also four times more than the average cost in the rest of the world. And only one in 100 people have fixed broadband connection in their homes.
The stakes could therefore not be higher. We know that the digitalization of economies holds enormous development potential, but only if digital technologies can also close the new divides and avoid greater inequality.
So inclusion should be placed at the center of the digital development agenda in the Pacific.
All people, businesses, communities and countries should benefit from the digital economy.
Digital development must be pursued in a holistic manner that balances economic, social, cultural and human rights.
The Pacific is still at an early stage of digital transformation.
This can be seen as good news because the impacts of technology do not follow a predetermined path.
The net effect of digitalization in the Pacific will depend on policy choices made by governments and their partners.
And governments in the region still have time and agency to act in key areas such as data governance, competition, taxation and labor markets, which we cover in context-specific detail in our report.
I would like to close my remarks by thanking the Government of Australia and the European Union for their generous financial support to the Pacific Digital Economy Programme, which is implemented by UNCTAD, the United Nations Capital Development Fund and the United Nations Development Programme.
We are proud to be part of this joint effort aimed at building more inclusive digital economies in the region, an effort that highlights the important role that bilateral donors and development partners must play at this juncture.
I would also like to thank the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat for your support in developing this important regional report and for hosting this launch event.
The future is digital. Let us ensure that no Pacific Islander is left behind.
Thank you.
