Hemispheric summit sets its agenda
By
Delphine Soulas
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
12/21/03
The United States is seeking an agreement to foster the growth of
small and medium-size businesses at a special summit of the Americas
to be held in Mexico next month.
"According to the World Bank, starting a business in Latin America
and the Caribbean takes longer than in any other region in the world,"
said John Maisto, the U.S. representative to the Organization of American
States (OAS).
The summit, where 34 leaders from democratically elected governments
in the Western Hemisphere are to meet, will focus on economic growth,
social development and democratic governance.
It is to take place in Monterrey, Mexico, Jan. 12-13 as a prelude
to the 4th Summit of the Americas to be held in Argentina in 2005.
"Not long after the Quebec summit, it was apparent that changes
were taking place in our world and in our hemisphere that would demand
the attention of the leaders ... earlier than 2005," Mr. Maisto
told reporters last week at the Foreign Press Center in Washington.
He said economics, politics and social forces are part of a "circle
that leads to a successful and prosperous and more competitive nation,
one by one."
Mr. Maisto pointed out that a lack of access to credit and the high
costs of sending remittances abroad are barriers to starting small
and medium-size businesses.
Still, these kinds of enterprises represent about 80 percent of all
economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Fostering small and medium-size enterprises to create jobs, increasing
the level of financing opportunities and securing property rights
for all are part of the U.S. agenda for the summit, he said.
The announcement of the U.S. agenda occurred the day after the United
States and four Central American countries reached a free-trade agreement.
Education, HIV-AIDS and corruption are also part of the U.S. agenda
for the Monterrey summit.