A plea for special and differential treatment was put forward by Guyana at the recent Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rudy Insanally.
During a post-Mexico interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), the Foreign Affairs Minister is reported to have said that although Guyana was not "heavily represented" at the recent meeting, there was ample participation on several vital issues.
"We had the opportunity of participating fully in the debates which centred around economic growth and equity, social development and democratic governance," GINA quoted Insanally as saying.He said further that in Guyana's participation in discussions on economic growth and equity, the country acknowledged the inherent importance of progress in this area as an essential element of poverty reduction in keeping with the Millennium Devel-opment Goals (MDGs).
And drawing from the economic recovery experience in Guyana during the 1990s, Insanally said Guyana also put forward its request for special and differential treatment and a Regional Development Fund within the context of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
The Foreign Minister, GINA reported, noted that the hemisphere is as strong as its "weakest link" since by comparison, some countries in the Caribbean have limited economic options which called for a special case drawn up at the Monterrey Summit.
While the Summit of the Americas is the interim caucus to next year's meeting scheduled for Argentina, the Mexico meeting served as a platform for dialogue among some fourteen new leaders of the hemisphere to discuss current and evolving events of significance to the region.
At the Mexico meeting, Insanally continued, CARICOM was well represented. Leaders discussed the outcomes established at last year's meeting in Quebec, Canada.
At that meeting, a concerted approach was taken by leaders to tackle poverty at the domestic level in keeping with the MDGs. To this end, GINA added, Insanally noted that leaders at the Monterrey Summit also examined concrete projects aimed at poverty reduction. The OAS is managing a number of projects in these areas.