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On Sunday, January 11th,
2004, in Monterrey, Mexico, the Government of Mexico
together with the Summits of the Americas Secretariat
organized a Forum with the private sector in the framework
of the Special Summit of the Americas. Seventy-four
participants represented companies from a number of
countries of the Americas.
The forum, moderated by
Yeidckol Polewnsky, President of the Cámara Nacional
de la Industria de la Transformación (Canacintra), was
a dialogue in which company representatives discussed and
exchanged ideas and strategies with the Plenipotentiary
Ministers regarding the topics addressed by the Summit of
the Americas: economic growth with equity to reduce
poverty, social development, and democratic governance.
The objective of the forum was to promote the support of
the companies for the concrete initiatives of the Special
Summit, to foster the establishment of a consultative
mechanism for the private sector, and to emphasize the
role of the private sector in the attainment of the Summit
of the Americas goals.
The Secretary General of
the Organization of American States (OAS), Dr. César
Gaviria, inaugurated the ceremony by welcoming the
business and country representatives and by stressing the
importance of the active role of all the sectors of the
society in the summits process.
In his presentation, Mr.
Enrique Madero Bracho, International President of the
Latin American Business Council (CEAL), commented that the
private sector is ready to commit itself to the political
determination of the governments in order to achieve a
shared social development in the Americas, and to
contribute to the betterment of the economic and social
situation of the nations in an environment of
collaboration to maintain peace and security.
Afterwards, Mr. Norman
Anderson, President of CG/LA Infrastructure, addressed the
subject of economic growth with equity, where he
emphasized the need to increase the joint work between the
private and the public sector in infrastructure and
highlighted its basic elements in the countries and its
relationship with national economic growth. In accordance
with some of the points in the Declaration of Nuevo León,
Anderson defined the importance of creating economic
options for small and middle-sized businesses to establish
themselves and to grow dynamically. He further called on
the countries to increase investment in infrastructure in
order to guarantee benefits to citizens such as the
following: risk reduction, better working conditions,
good services, and consequently, economic and social
development. Finally, he recommended giving higher
priority to infrastructure investment including
cooperation with the business sector at different levels.
In the subject of social
development, Mr. Alberto Pfeifer of CEAL Brazil, noted
that it is necessary to create associations with civil
society and the private sector to work in the social
agenda proposed at the Summit. He further highlighted the
topic of education and the need to broaden the transfer of
science and technology with universities, institutions of
higher education, and to establish joint ventures to find
positive solutions to development challenges.
Finally, the Vice-President
of the Centro de Pensamiento del Sector Privado de El
Salvador (FUSADE), Jorge Zahblah-Touche, remarked on
the subject of democratic governance addressing the idea
that this should include the participation and the
responsibility of the State, companies, and civil society,
where each one assumes their function in the corresponding
environment, and that the completion of the respective
missions is the key to the development of the nations. He
noted that civil society is increasingly stronger,
demanding, and entrepreneurial, but he warned that within
the transition from closed to open economies there are
still obstacles in achieving true democracy. Therefore,
he stressed the need to fight to solve the governance
crisis and the threats to governance through strengthening
institutions. He concluded by saying that the facilitator
role of a strong private sector that creates opportunities
and competition will contribute building societies that
are just and prosperous thanks to trust in democracy.
In response, country
delegates indicated that an interrelation exists between
the three discussed subjects, highlighting that
governance, transparency, and institutional strengthening
are basic elements in accomplishing credibility and
trust. They also pointed out that the commitments and
goals of the Summit should be realized through concrete
and measurable proposals and appreciated the opportunity
to exchange ideas with the private sector and civil
society in general.
The last intervention on
behalf of the private sector representatives was the
presentation by Mr. Nahuel Villegas and Robert Graves of
Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) on the
subject: “Digital television, overcoming the digital
gap”, regarding how digital television has improved the
lives of people in America and the Caribbean and the ways,
such as distance learning and reaching underserved areas,
in which it can benefit social development throughout the
continent.
At the closing session of
the meeting, the Foreign Minister of México, Dr. Luis
Ernesto Derbéz thanked the representatives of the private
sector for their interest in supporting the initiatives of
the Summit. He invited them to continue their commitment
with their national governments and with the summit
process in order to achieve the ambitious goals of the
Hemisphere.
The Summit of the Americas
process is a useful mechanism for the private sector to
promote trade and investment interests through the broad
economic, social, and political agenda of the Americas.
The Private Sector Forum offers an excellent opportunity
to achieve these goals through dialogue between a select
group of business representatives and officials from the
34 participating countries. |
