The President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, yesterday raised the need for the international community to make its best efforts in order to successfully face the enormous economic and social challenges generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Abinader said that the Dominican Republic, assuming the pro tempore secretariat of the XXVIII Iberoamerican Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will take place in the country in 2022, will work hard to establish a recovery fund and restructuring, which is the basis of a great regional alliance for development, and which facilitates not only post-pandemic recovery, but the transition to a new fair, green and sustainable economic order.
The president, in delivering a speech at the closing of this Summit, thanked the King of Spain, Felipe VI and the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, for his willingness to send vaccines against Covid -19 in Latin American countries,
He criticized that despite the need for a renewed multilateral vision, in the process of distributing vaccines against Covid-19, it has been observed that the most developed countries have adopted hoarding policies that deny, in a way unfortunate and unfair, access to them in low- and middle-income countries, in contradiction with any notion of human solidarity. Abinader considers it imperative to design governance strategies that guarantee the political and social stability of the region, which must, in turn, be based on economic policies aimed at fully achieving the 2030 Agenda.
financing
He recalled the reports of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), which warn of the severe impact of serious fiscal imbalances and the consequent indebtedness, fruits of the pandemic, on the vulnerability and liquidity needs of the region.
The president noted that this will lead to a deepening of the funding gaps in the Latin American region.
Abinader said developed countries should drive actions to encourage and channel new capital, and thus mitigate the negative effects left by the pandemic.
“Let it be clear. We are not advocating for humanitarian aid or charitable funds. What we are proposing is a development alliance that will allow us to move as a region to a new productive and redistributive model,” he said.
Abinader highlighted the vulnerability and liquidity needs of the region, as pointed out by ECLAC. “The region will need huge new economic resources to strengthen its growth prospects, and developed countries should be called upon to make a greater effort to channel this capital, which will allow us to mitigate the effects of pandemic debt and relaunching our growth, ”he said.
XXVIII Summit in RD
The ruler warned that to fully achieve the 2030 Agenda, it is only possible, if funding gaps can be closed at the lowest possible cost for developing countries.
He called on the Latin American community to avoid another lost decade in the region. And he concluded, that this is a big challenge, “but I’m sure we’ll come out on top together.”
Abinader assured that the Dominican Republic will be an indestructible ally that will work tirelessly because, on the basis of our differences and similarities, we walk “together for a just and sustainable Ibero-America.”
Trade and energy
Abinader, in the last day of the Summit yesterday, held three bilateral meetings where he addressed important issues of interest to the country, such as trade, energy and technology.
He met with his Guatemalan counterpart, Alejandro Giammattei. He later held another meeting with the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and later spoke with the Prime Minister of Andorra, Xavier Espot Zamora, who raised the need to expand diplomatic ties, trade, tourism and other areas.
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Solidarity.
Abinader thanked the authorities of the Principality of Andorra, and its President Xavier Espot Zamora and his team, as well as Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary General of the SEGIB, for all the support provided to the Dominican authorities in the transfer of headquarters and for the successful realization of this Summit.
Transformation is urgent.
He raised the need to protect human rights and the environment, upgrade democratic political institutions to new technologies, and a reorientation into public spending priorities and the way societies are governed.