On the front page of the digital media Adaderana there are reports on the first day of the event based on the current challenges of development: the role of science, technology and innovation, and on Wickremesinghe’s speech before over 100 delegations attending the Summit in Havana, Cuba.
The newspaper also highlighted the welcoming ceremony of the Sri Lankan president by his Cuban counterpart Miguel Díaz Canel at the Palace of the Revolution as well as the official talks held between both leaders prior to the beginning of the event.
During his speech at the Summit, Wickremesinghe urged the G77+China to establish effective cooperation mechanisms to address challenges such as limited access to expensive technology, inadequate digital infrastructure and financing restrictions, aggravated by trade barriers.
He underscored the crucial timing of the Havana meeting, when the global South is affected by multiple challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, food, fertilizer and energy crises that pave the way for the global debt crisis and setbacks in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Wickremesinghe praised how the impact of European colonization on Asia and Africa caused the lag in the development of Science and Technology in countries of those continents and created the current technology gap.
Another quantum leap in technology and innovation is taking place in the 21st century in a geometric progression that further widens the existing technology gap and leads to the marginalization of the South, he said.
The Sri Lankan president claimed there is a need to focus efforts on Digitalization and the implementation of new technologies, as well as adequate preparation of human resources in the multifaceted fields of this sphere.
We must immediately revitalize the Consortium of Science, Technology and Innovation for the South (COSTIS), he urged, while calling for establishing an action agenda that includes measures such as collective platforms targeting digitalization, health and medicines, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Wickremesinghe called on the G77 member states to allocate funding for technology development and encourage collaboration between government and the private sector in this regard.
He said that strengthening South-South cooperation can also play an important role in training human resources, exchanging best practices and promoting policies that take advantage of the transformative potential of science, technology and innovation.
Finally, he reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s support for the new Havana Declaration to ensure that the collective voice of the G77+China is heard in international fora.
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