Compiled by Savithri Rodrigo

COOPERATION IS CRUCIAL

David Holly favours a coordinated response to global imperatives

It hasn’t been an easy time for the world; no country has been immune to COVID-19 but as High Commissioner of Australia David Holly explains, “it is a reminder that many problems are best solved or indeed, can only be solved through cooperation.”

International cooperation is about each country sharing rather than yielding a portion of its sovereign decision making, which means deriving a return on something greater than their contribution.

“There are admirable instances of the international community coming together, sharing information, assisting in repatriation, and working together to save lives and rebuild economies,” Holly adds.

The ‘infodemic’ – i.e. the disinformation pandemic – as he calls it has been unhelpful, undermining democratic debate and exacerbating social polarisation, which Holly urges the world to reject: “We must provide clear communication channels of reliable information to ensure that the climate of fear and division is eliminated.”

He emphasises that “in times such as these, we need cooperation and understanding. Australia supports facts and transparency, underpinned by liberal democratic values that we will continue to promote at home and abroad.”

Another facet he hones in on is the importance of international order: “The pandemic has brought into stark relief the major role of international institutions in addressing and coordinating a global response to a worldwide problem across multiple lines of effort. What has been exposed is the magnitude of consequences if we fail to ensure these institutions are fit for purpose, accountable to member states and free from undue influence.”


Born in Nigeria, Holly has been a career diplomat since 2001. He arrived in Sri Lanka in April last year – his work at the Foreign Office included the Treasury, and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

He critically appraises Australia’s focus on the unprecedented scale and permeating impacts of the pandemic: “We’re required to do things differently, and pivoting our development partnerships in support of health security, economic recovery and stability in our region.

“We’re drawing on the full range of state assets working with the Australian Defence Force, Home Affairs and other government departments, which are augmented by deep community and people to people links, and the strengths of our educational and scientific institutions,”  he affirms.

With Australia being the 13th largest economy in the world, posting uninterrupted growth for nearly three decades, Holly notes that trade in most commodities continued throughout COVID-19, demonstrating the competitiveness and resilience of the country’s exports.

“Since 2013, the share of our trade covered by FTAs has increased from 26 percent to around 70 percent of Australia’s total trade. One in five Australian jobs relies on trade, one in 10 on foreign direct investment (FDI) and one in 13 on tourism,” he elaborates.

His past experience as Chief Economist – Trade & Investment bestows on Holly the credence to set out three main priorities in trade going forward: “First, expanding the options for our exporters by opening up even more commercially significant and emerging markets; second, strengthening the rules based system that underpins international trade; and third, promoting the high quality of our goods and services across the world.”

Having been a trade negotiator at the Office of Trade Negotiations, and led Australia’s contribution in the India and China FTAs, his insights on the WTO being the best option for economies both large and small are interesting.

“Having an effective rule book with a working trade dispute settlement mechanism is the cornerstone of a functional rules-based trading system. If one nation breaks the rules, it is held to account through a predictable and impartial process, limiting larger players from flexing muscles and getting their way,” Holly maintains.

He continues: “For Australia however, it was challenging and disappointing to see the WTO’s Appellate Body cease to function in December last year with an impasse over appointments. Australia is working with others including the EU and China to find a way forward.”

Building on 73 years of bilateral ties founded on people to people links, and shared values and interests as Indian Ocean countries and the Commonwealth, Australia’s 170,000 strong Sri Lankan diaspora has further strengthened family and business linkages. Australia also has an extensive portfolio of cooperation across education, trade and investment, efforts to combat transnational crime and security challenges with Sri Lanka.

Holly sees two-way trade, which in 2018 was US$ 1.6 billion driven by education and tourism, growing steadily following the signing of the Australia-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) in 2017, and deepening economic cooperation with the establishment of the Joint Trade and Investment Committee.

“Both countries could complement each other in agribusiness, food and beverages, energy, resources and education including technical training,” he asserts, adding that Australia hosts about 12,000 students at any given time and around 3,000 are part of Australian programmes in Sri Lanka.

Holly notes: “Sri Lanka can benefit from Australian technology and capacity in agro-industry. Apart from Sri Lanka’s own cuisine, the tourism industry can be complemented with Australian food and wine.

“We’re a willing partner in Sri Lanka’s mining prospects given our advanced mining industry that encompasses world standards. Being the largest LNG producer and as we share the Indian Ocean, we can help diversify Sri Lanka’s energy needs to LNG sources,” he surmises.