President addresses Twentieth Summit of the Rio Group
-expresses hope for productive meeting

Georgetown, GINA, March 7, 2008

Head of State, Bharrat Jagdeo, today addressed the 20th Summit of the Rio Group in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic on his way to The Bahamas to attend the 19th  Inter-sessional meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
            Addressing the forum, the Guyanese Leader first extended warm congratulations to incoming Chairman of the group, President Felipe Calderón of the United Mexican States.
            “I extend our warm congratulations and good wishes for a successful tenure at the helm of our Group,” the Head of State said as he recalled that it was just a year ago when Guyana hosted the XIX Summit of the Group.
            “As I look back on the experience, I would like to think that a CARICOM country chairing the Rio Group has contributed in some small way to enlarging the political, economic and social dimensions of our common hemispheric home.  Latin America and the Caribbean, long divided by different languages and separate histories, have now come, through dialogue and interaction, much closer than they have ever been to the goal of integration,” President Jagdeo told the forum.
             This year’s Summit focuses on energy and natural disasters and the disastrous impact which these can have on the development of the countries of the Rio Group.            
            “In the face of spiralling oil prices, we have no option but to find ways and means to lessen the financial and societal burden which we now bear.  We should join forces to develop and invest in an energy infrastructure that would advance the objective of regional energy integration and regional energy security.  In the process we need also to promote the use of cleaner and innovative technologies that would reduce the harm now done to our fragile environment,” Guyana’s President underscored.
            Using the 2005 flood in Guyana as an example, President Jagdeo referred to the impact climate change has had on the countries and cited their vulnerability to natural disasters. He also alluded to the hurricanes which have been causing havoc in small islands of the Caribbean and some countries in Central America.
            He said the 2005 flood took a disastrous toll on Guyana’s economy.
            “We suffered one of our worst experiences which resulted, according to a study done by ECLAC, in a loss of the equivalent of 60% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product),” he said.
            The Head of State pointed out that faced with these challenges, the Rio Group countries are now obliged to divert their limited budgets in order to concentrate on emergency spending.
            “With greater policy coordination and practical cooperation among ourselves, we may yet be able to cope with these phenomena.  Guyana will be pleased to participate in the Working Groups set up to address these challenges as it can bring to the table the experience of the countries of CARICOM,” the President announced.
            President Jagdeo said that while the countries attempt to address the challenges during the development process, they should not lose sight of the fundamental requirements for economic growth and the improvement in the quality of life of the people of the region. On this note, he said poverty-eradication should be foremost, since, despite the countries’ many endeavours, this remains unacceptably high.     
            “Much more remains to be done in all the major social sectors – such as education, healthcare and for our children’s welfare.  It is therefore incumbent on us, both at the local and regional levels, to generate new policies and programmes of cooperation aimed at addressing these issues.  Commitment must be translated to specific action,” he contended.
            According to the Guyanese Leader, another important prerequisite for development is peace and good neighbourliness in our region and he emphasised this at the forum, noting that it was one of the reasons why the Rio Group came into being in the first place. 
            “We must all therefore recommit ourselves to these ideals and act accordingly – and I do hope that this spirit pervades this meeting,” he said.
             President Jagdeo stated that ahead of the Rio Group are several important development fora in which many of the development concerns could be advanced.  These, he said, include mid-term review of the Millennium Development Goals, the Financing for Development Conference scheduled to be held in Doha later this year, and   conclusion of the World Trade Order trade negotiations. 
            “Experience has shown that our coordination of strategies on broad policy matters if not on all specific issues, can and does serve to enhance the negotiating power of the Rio Group in international affairs.  It is in our interest to rally around those issues which are of vital concern to our common future and, through greater consultation and coordination, formulate more broad-based strategies to reach our goals,” the President concluded. 

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