– at ECLAC round table meeting
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo recommended a suite of measures that the region can adopt as he argued the case for a change in the traditional way of thinking at the political level in dealing with challenges. The Head of State was at the time addressing the launch of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) round table meeting, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance of Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday in Port of Spain.
The challenges of deeper regional integration and the internal drivers of development were discussed by participants of the meeting, while Minister of Finance in Trinidad and Tobago, Winston Dookeran, delivered a presentation on the evolution of economic development.
In his address, President Jagdeo said a forum of this nature should be about sharing of initiatives for the benefit of policymakers of each country.
He expressed the view that the region’s future well-being will depend on efforts to address issues that the region is in control of, and a significant focus on advocacy to create change on issues that seem impossible to resolve.
“We still operate in a global system that will generate a whole deal of instability, so we have to advocate for changes… this region would always depend on exports for prosperity, so we have to operate in an open trading environment,” President Jagdeo said.
The Guyanese Head of State subsequently spoke at a joint press conference with ECLAC’s, Executive Secretary, Alicia Barcena, noting that the international system has worked in the region’s favour for some time now, but must evolve.
“Our ability to influence that evolution is limited. We are not represented at the G8 or G20 summits, and (we have) minimal representation on the board of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank. Our views tend to go to get to these bodies by proxy,” President Jagdeo said
On his list of measures is a determination of global systems that best suit the interest of the region, using Guyana’s model of trading carbon, the establishment of a learning TV channel and the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme as good examples.
“We may not be always right, but at least we have focused on what we want for the future, where most of the wealth will come from in Guyana,” President Jagdeo said.
A detailed explanation was also given by the Head of State of the single parent assistance programme, Women of Worth (WOW) and the partnership with the financial institutions to offer collateral free loans.