Statement by the Honourable Patrick Manning.
4/19/2009
Statement by the Chairman of the Fifth
Summit of the Americas, the Honourable
Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of the
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
April 19, 2009
As Chair of the Fifth Summit of the
Americas, I must say how very pleased I was
with the manner in which the deliberations
progressed yesterday in the Plenary Sessions
and again this morning at the Leaders’
Retreat. Since taking over the leadership of
the Summits of the Americas Process,
Trinidad and Tobago has called,
consistently, for greater cooperation,
integration and solidarity among our nations
as the primary vehicle for ensuring peace,
security and prosperity for all the peoples
of the Americas. This Summit has been a
historic event for us here in Trinidad and
Tobago and for the wider CARICOM Region and
has exceeded by far all our expectations.
The Port of Spain Summit was characterized
by mutual respect and an eagerness and
genuine desire to work together on solutions
to the many challenges facing the
Hemisphere. Several leaders expressed the
view that Port of Spain marks a turning
point for inter-American relations and for
building a stronger community of nations.
Latin America and the Caribbean are now at a
different crossroad in their relations with
each other and with the United States of
America. With the changing political
landscape, the terms of engagement have
changed and occasioned by an altogether
different posture that is based on mutual
respect and equality among partners. The
leaders of the Hemisphere agreed that we now
have a real opportunity to put
inter-American relations on a completely new
footing which sees all countries, big or
small, developed or developing as equal
partners. Such relations must be built on
the basis of new vision and a people-centred
development strategy.
The deliberations over the past day and half
centred on the three main pillars of
Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain -
human prosperity, energy security and
environmental sustainability.
The discussions also focused on the
re-integration of Cuba into the
inter-American system, and on developing
relevant responses to the current global
financial crisis.
Reintegration of Cuba in the Inter-American
System
Several Presidents and Prime Ministers
called for an end to the exclusion of the
Cuba from the Summit process and the inter-american
system. There was a clear consensus that the
reintegration of Cuba in the inter-american
relations is an essential step toward the
building of a more cohesive and integrated
Americas. The very open and conciliatory
stance of President Obama and other leaders
at the Summit has heightened optimism for
the full engagement of Cuba in Hemispheric
affairs in the not too distant future. The
Government of Trinidad and Tobago looks
forward to the day when Cuba is fully
embraced into the folds of the inter-american
family.
Global Financial Crisis
At the time of this Fifth Summit, the world
economy is facing a severe financial crisis,
which has led to a wide-spread global
economic slump. Economic statistics released
by the International Monetary Fund in
January 2009 indicate that the world economy
grew by just 0.5 per cent in 2008 but is
expected to record negative growth for the
first time in 60 years, in 2009.
While the economies of the Western
Hemisphere fared much better in 2008 growing
on average by 4.8 per cent, economic growth
is expected to slow sharply in 2009 to
around 1.0 per cent.
The countries of the Americas now face
higher than expected declines in the price
and volume of exports, restrictions in
access to trade financing, difficulties in
accessing other kinds of external finance
and reduced remittances from migrant
workers. The current economic slump has
depressed commodity prices, constrained the
growth of investment, weakened labour
markets and lowered business and consumer
confidence.
They are also not immune from the negative
social consequences of the current global
crisis which is threatening to derail the
hard-won gains that achieved over the past
two decades. The social consequences are
likely to be quite significant. Many people
are losing their jobs and are being forced
back into poverty.
The impact on the smaller economies has been
even more pronounced. A protracted crisis
will create severe economic and social
hardships in these vulnerable economies and
can derail them from the path of sustainable
development that they have been working so
assiduously to achieve.
In the context of the current economic
downturn, ensuring sustainable development
for all the peoples of the Americas requires
a renewed focus on the commitments made in
the Doha Declaration; the Millenium
Declaration; the Monterrey Consensus and the
2005 Global Summit.
Many countries have unveiled various
measures to mitigate the impact of the
crisis and maintain macroeconomic stability
including fiscal stimulus plans, tax cuts,
liquidity support for financial markets and
interest rate reductions. However, the
extent of the fiscal support needs to be
carefully managed so as not to limit fiscal
space going forward. Greater harmonization
of monetary and fiscal policy is now
essential.
Notwithstanding individual efforts, the
crisis requires a concerted and coordinated
global response. Unilateral action alone
will likely be ineffective. There is a need
for greater economic and commercial ties
among the countries of the Americas; and the
restoration of credit flows to finance
international trade and arrest any abrupt
decline in exports.
Developed countries also have an important
role to play in addressing the weaknesses in
their financial systems, in order to restore
trust in the markets.
The decision at the recently concluded
London Summit to make $1.1 trillion in new
resources available through the
International Financial Institutions to
restore credit, encourage trade and support
employment and growth in the global economy
is a step in the right direction. This
package must be implemented as soon as
possible. While the allocation of resources
to the IMF is a positive step, it is but a
basic one. Priority must also be given to
reviewing of capital requirements of the
other multilateral institutions and to
supporting their various liquidity
enhancement initiatives.
The Inter-American Development Bank and
other financial institutions must use their
respective competitive advantages and
financial resources in order to more
aggressively fulfill their mandates on
poverty reduction and sustainable
development. Leaders placed the
recapitalization of the Inter-American
Development Bank high on the agenda for
immediate action.
The recognition of the human dimension of
the crisis and the possibility of including
environmental consideration in the fiscal
stimulus plans show that the leaders at the
G20 London Summit, in spite of the pressing
short term demands have not forgotten the
long-term consequences. It is a positive
signal that, in the midst of the economic
turmoil, the commitment to face the
challenge of climate change and its
irreversible consequences is reaffirmed.
Each government has an important role to
play in what is now an interdependent global
financial and economic system and robust and
effective regulatory structures must be
implemented to enhance the stability of
national and regional financial systems.
There must also be greater involvement by
emerging and smaller countries in the
Western Hemisphere in the overhaul of global
regulatory structures, markets and systems
with a view to forestalling future financial
crises. Small countries have a legitimate
interest in the responsible, transparent,
yet competitive export of international
services.
Stimulus efforts, as far as possible, must
support sustainable economic growth and
development in order to promote human
prosperity, energy security and
environmental sustainability
Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain
The Declaration of Commitment of Port of
Spain, which was the document negotiated
over the last six months by 34 countries,
outlines measures to be taken at the
technical level towards the goal of securing
our citizens’ future. The Declaration makes
broad reference to the financial crisis and
as such, does not address, in any detail,
the specific implementation measures. The
issue of the economic crisis must be dealt
with very carefully and therefore, Ministers
of Finance of the Western Hemisphere, who
will meet in Chile in July, will be directed
to examine the crisis in greater detail,
taking into account the outcomes of the
London G20 meeting, and to clearly define
practical measures to be taken by all
countries.
During the Leaders’ Retreat an agreement was
reached that the Chair of the Fifth Summit
of the Americas, would sign the declaration
as having been adopted by all Heads of State
and Government attending the Summit.
While there were reservations by some
countries on particular aspects of the
Declaration, the Leaders wanted to send a
strong signal of solidarity and cooperation.
The collective view was that the Fifth
Summit was a tremendous success, pervaded by
a unique spirit of openness and goodwill,
and that it heralds the beginning of a new
era in inter-American relations
Haiti
In the same spirit of cooperation, the
Leaders reiterated their commitment to
supporting Haiti and agreed that the issue
of funding for development programmes would
be addressed at the OAS General Assembly in
San Pedro Sula, Honduras in June.
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