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| Prime Minister Freundel Stuart??addresses the audience at the??opening ceremony of the??2nd CARICOM-Mexico Summit, yesterday at the Hilton Hotel. (C.Pitt/BGIS)?? |
The upcoming G-20 Summit slated for Los Cabos, Mexico, could be a crucial "game changer" for the region with the host country being urged to assist the Caribbean by being an advocate in the region’s fight to have their concerns addressed.
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart made this observation yesterday while addressing the opening ceremony of the 2nd CARICOM-Mexico Summit at Hilton Barbados.
Noting that the CARICOM position would be discussed during the working sessions, the Prime Minister used the opportunity to update the large gathering on some of the critical concerns that were germane to the region.
Mr. Stuart said these concerns include: the slow process of reform of the multilateral institutions and the uneven result, to date; and the continued lack of representativeness and transparency of the G-20, which as the Commonwealth Secretary General said, represented 90 per cent of global gross domestic product, but certainly not 90 percent of the world’s countries,.
He also said concern was expressed about the worrying signs that the region had moved from the "rich man’s club of the G-7 to the big man’s club of the G-20, whose members were more united in telling non-G20 countries what they should do than in prescribing for those within their own fold".
Mr. Stuart further stated: "The constant tilting of the G-20’s response towards Caribbean-based international financial centres, notwithstanding the fact that the bulk of proven money-laundering, inadequate regulation and tax avoidance, has occurred in the financial centres of Europe and the United States."
He also articulated the need to, among other things, promote assertive policies for them in the areas of financing for development, aid for trade, and issues of indebtedness.
Mr. Stuart also mentioned the need to reassert the grave threat posed by climate change and the urgency of agreeing on a comprehensive and ambitious response by the region.??????
The Barbados Prime Minister also urged Mexico to assist the region in the promotion of the recently adopted Barbados Declaration on Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in the Small Island Developing States.