Dr_Osman Posted May 31, 2014 Puntland Roundtable with International Partners Joint Communiqué 21st May, 2014 The Puntland Roundtable meeting with international partners took place in Garowe, the capital city of the Puntland State of Somalia on 21st May, 2014 at the Puntland Development and Research Center (PDRC). The meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the President of Puntland State of Somalia and was attended by delegations from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, UAE and the UK as well representatives from the African Union/AMISOM, European Union, IGAD, United Nations, and the World Bank. The Federal Government of Somalia was represented by the Minister of Planning and the Minister of Higher Education and Culture. Puntland civil society also attended. We met at a key moment. Puntland State of Somalia has recently held remarkable elections and saw a peaceful transition of power for the fourth time in its fifteen-year history. International partners commended the Government and the Puntland people for their devotion to peace and stability. Discussions mainly focused on the development needs of Puntland State as encapsulated in the Puntland Second Five-Year Development Plan (2014-2018) and the three year (2014-16) priority framework and its five peace building goals and allowed to consult on ways to fully embed Puntland in the New Deal process. The international partners welcomed the strengthened engagement with Puntland State and committed to continue this form of dialogue. It was agreed that Puntland’s priorities should be taken into account in the Somali Compact and that Puntland’s participation in the New Deal aid architecture was important – particularly in the Somali Development and Reconstruction Facility (SRDF). The Roundtable underlined the importance of ensuring equitable and fair development throughout Somalia and recognized the criticality of this issue in the New Deal. Puntland leadership expressed gratitude to international partners for their continued and increasing support to the progress of Puntland State. Puntland welcomed IGAD’s plan to open an office in Garowe. We reiterated the critical importance of joint planning with Puntland line Ministries for all development programmes. We encouraged partners, especially new donors, to contribute to funding for the Puntland Second Five-Year Development Plan. We underscored the importance of rapidly extending coordination and funding mechanisms already in place at the Federal Government level to existing and future Federal States. We are committed to immediately and fully engage Puntland in these processes. We acknowledged the nascent peace and stability in Puntland regions and agreed to consider financing investments in infrastructure through existing programmes and new Funds, including the planned Fund of the African Development Bank. We expressed optimism that a new era of progress and development has started in Puntland. We acknowledged the good work underway in supporting the Puntland democratization efforts and welcomed the leadership of the new Ministry of Democratization. We are determined to offer incentives to the People of Puntland and the Government to continue on this path of development. We committed to increase our long-term efforts to support economic growth and prosperity in Puntland. SECURITY: We condemned terrorism and violent extremism, whether perpetrated by Somalis or foreigners. The meeting noted that Puntland has faced and continues to fight terrorism in its region, especially in the Galgala mountains where Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda has sought refuge from the operations in southern Somalia. The situation remains precarious, and in urgent need of support from international partners. We called upon the international partners to provide logistical support to Puntland in its operations against Al-Shabaab. We welcomed AMISOM’s announcement to deploy police to assist in trainings and in logistical support in the fight against Al-Shabaab. We recognized that sustainable security throughout Puntland requires a holistic approach ranging from rule of law to maritime security. We recommended an expansion of support to communities to tackle the underlying causes of piracy through a livelihood approach. We welcomed the efforts of donors who have invested in the construction and rehabilitation of prisons in Puntland to meet international standards. We welcomed proposals to create courts in Puntland specialised in dealing with piracy. In attendance: Puntland State of Somalia Federal Government of Somalia Royal Danish Embassy Embassy of the French Republic Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Embassy of the Italian Republic Royal Norwegian Embassy Embassy of Sweden Embassy of the Republic of Turkey Embassy of the United Arab Emirates UK Department for International Development African Union/AMISOM European Union Intergovernmental Authority on Development United Nations World Bank Puntland Non-State Actors Association (PUNSAA) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr_Osman Posted May 31, 2014 Good on you Puntland Govt for continuing to exchange the International Community regarding the region's development priorities. I was watching on PLTV the minister for planning and international coordination noting down that the funds pledged were going to be used in high impact sectors such as electricity, roads, and water. Apparently 50 wells are planned for rural parts of Puntland. I welcome that that these sectors are going to be developed. It is crucial Puntland has viable electricity to ensure local/diaspora/foreign investments are possible. Without electricity viability in the state, investment in manufacturing areas will stagnate. 1 of the many reasons for that is, without reliable around the clock electricity, this can affect investors decisions on heavy investment in manufacturing areas since it's bottom line can be affected with constant outages on crucial power hungry machinery. Not only that but even the high cost of electricity in PL is a putoff for investor since it will affect investor bottom-line. 9 cent per kilowat in the west vs $1 dollar a kilowatt in Puntland, u could just imagine the monthly bill for power hungry machines in Puntland and how that can affect profits. I also support the idea of roads, this is so important to our development. If we ever want to resusciate the fishery sector we will need a way to move goods and people between coastal cities and the main towns. The only way to achieve this is thru connecting the coastal cities to the main road that runs the country. For example a bandar bayla dirt road to qardho or an eyl dirt road to garowe and a baargaal-calula-lasqoray-qandala dirt roads to bosaso will be sufficient. I envision the main road will have feeder roads connected to the main paved road in a strategical manner. We want to make sure the main coastal cities are connected to Puntland so we can reinvigorate this very proiftable sector known as fishery which can add nearly half a billion worth of gross to our GDP. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tillamook Posted May 31, 2014 This is welcome news. We hope the funding for these promised projects becomes available as soon as possible and that these projects get underway with as little mismanagement and corruption as possible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
