TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION OF ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN SAN JOSE, 15 - 20 APRIL
Press Release
ECLAC/341
TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION OF ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN SAN JOSE, 15 - 20 APRIL
19960422 SAN JOSE, 20 April (ECLAC) -- Addressing the ministerial meeting of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at the close of its annual session, the President of Costa Rica, José María Figueres, declared that "most of the economic changes that have taken place in Latin America over the last decade have been positive. But we need to ask, 'Who are those who are still excluded from the benefits of development?'""There is a need to combine efficiency in our countries with compassion for our poorest citizens", said President Figueres as the session, which opened on 15 April, concluded today.
At the end of the morning plenary session, the President of the Inter- American Development Bank, Enrique Iglesias, and the ECLAC Executive Secretary, Gert Rosenthal, signed a cooperation agreement by which the two institutions will explore areas where they may jointly finance studies, programmes and projects in the region. Such cooperation may be in the areas of economic integration, intraregional trade, population issues, statistics, social policies, citizens' security, macroeconomics, transport and the environment.
The agreement was concluded as part of a resolution adopted at the session which also urges ECLAC to coordinate its activities more with other multilateral organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS). The resolution also recommends that ECLAC continue to work in those areas where it has proven excellence, such as: analytical work, combined with technical assistance to countries of the region; assistance to the region's poorest nations, as well as to the smaller Caribbean island economies; and ECLAC's unique capacity to compare economic and social experiences between countries in the region, as well as between Latin America and the Caribbean and other areas of the world.
The other principal resolution adopted by the session, on strengthening sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean, is based on the seminal ECLAC study entitled, Strengthening Development: The Interplay of Macro- and Microeconomics.
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Referring to this study, Mr. Rosenthal said, "We wanted to review the present situation in the region, both to confirm the opinion of governments as to where they believe their countries are in terms of development, and to suggest ways to overcome the obstacles that are now impeding accelerated growth."
"In the 1980s", Mr. Rosenthal continued, "the pendulum swing was so extreme that gaps in public action soon became evident in the dissemination of the technological advances achieved at the level of production, which particularly affects small and medium-sized enterprises; the strengthening of financial markets; and a more equitable distribution of the fruits of the region's incipient reactivation."
According to Mr. Rosenthal, the main recommendations of the ECLAC study are as follows:
-- Annual economic growth in Latin America needs to reach an average of 6 per cent if the region's productivity is to improve, and unemployment and rates of poverty are to decline;
-- Economic policies, particularly monetary, credit, fiscal, exchange, trade and wage policies, need to be adapted;
-- National savings and investments, especially in human resources, need to increase substantially; and
-- Credit and technical assistance needs to be made available to small and medium-sized enterprises so that they can increase their technological base and become more export-oriented.
Over 20 ministers or vice-ministers of foreign affairs, finance, economy and planning from the Latin American and Caribbean attended the final meeting, which followed four days of technical and economic discussions. Also present at the ministerial stage of the session were high-ranking officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Pan-American Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other United Nations and regional bodies.
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