Small island developing states (SIDS) are home to over 65 million people and spread across more than 1,000 islands.
SIDS are remarkably diverse economies across the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This diversity also extends to their economic development and comparative advantages.
Yet SIDS face important structural constraints and multiple challenges that leave them vulnerable to economic shocks and limit progress towards sustainable development. Given their import dependence, SIDS are vulnerable to international price fluctuations and disruptions to global shipping and supply chains. They are also impacted by the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss.
As such, enhancing the development of economy-wide productive capacities to ensure economic and export diversification, value addition, decent job creation and protection of the environment could form the backbone of strategies to build resilience in SIDS.
Outcome
The ministerial meeting of SIDS will enable the group to come together to advocate for their priorities and affirm a common vision. It is expected to result in the adoption of a ministerial declaration, which will also feature as part of the UNCTAD16 Outcome.
Participation
The ministerial meeting will be attended by ministers and high-level officials from SIDS.
The participation of some delegations in this meeting and in UNCTAD16 is made possible with the support of the Government of Finland.
Opening remarks: José R. Sánchez-Fung, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization and to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Dominican Republic
Opening remarks: Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
In September 2021, Rebeca Grynspan was appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), becoming the first woman to lead the organization in its 60-year history.
Rebeca Grynspan, an economist and former Vice President of Costa Rica, is an experienced leader of international institutions with a substantive track record in government, UN diplomacy, economic policy and multilateral cooperation at the global level.
Prior to joining the United Nations, she was Vice President of Costa Rica and held cabinet positions as Minister of Housing, Minister Coordinator of Economic and Social Affairs and Deputy Finance Minister.
Previously, she served as Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Conference (2014–2021), chairing regional summits of Heads of State and Government; United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. She was a member of the UN Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti, representing the UN Secretary-General.
At UNCTAD, Grynspan has been at the centre of critical negotiations to address global trade and development challenges. She played a decisive role in the successful Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered between the UN, Türkiye, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which enabled the safe export of over 32 million tons of grain, lowered global food prices by 22% and prevented millions from falling into food insecurity. She also leads the UN Global Crisis Response Group on food, energy and finance, and has represented the UN in G20 summits.
Her leadership has been recognized widely. In 2024, she received the Doha Negotiator of the Year Award for spearheading UN efforts to restore Black Sea trade routes. In 2025, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation awarded her the inaugural Isabel Oyarzábal Women in Multilateralism International Prize for her contribution to multilateralism.
Ms. Grynspan holds degrees in economics from the University of Costa Rica and the University of Sussex, and honorary doctorates from several European universities.
José R. Sánchez-Fung is the Dominican Republic’s ambassador and permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Preceding the appointment in Geneva, Dr. Sánchez-Fung was ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and head of the diplomatic mission, of the Dominican Republic to Switzerland based in Bern. Before joining his country’s foreign service, Dr. Sánchez-Fung taught economics at the University of Nottingham (Ningbo, China) and Kingston University London (with tenure).
He currently holds an adjunct professorship at Western Michigan University’s department of economics (Michigan, USA). Ambassador Sánchez-Fung’s national public service includes working as an economist in the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo in the role of director of economic research and voting member of the monetary policy-making Open Market Committee. He has also served as an honorific advisor to the Dominican Republic’s Senate - the upper house of the national parliament.
Ambassador Sánchez-Fung holds an undergraduate degree in economics from PUCMM in Santo Domingo, and MA and PhD degrees in economics from the University of Kent in the United Kingdom.
