Media Center

Press Release

OAS and Private Sector Agree on the Need to Strengthen Public-Private Alliance

Representatives of the Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the business sector of the continent agreed on the need to further promote the strategic alliance of the public-private sectors, to promote the strengthening of democracy, social equity, corporate social responsibility and the fight against crime during a dialogue they held in the framework of the 40th OAS General Assembly to be inaugurated today in Lima.

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, maintained that from this point of view, the Organization he heads “has increased substantially its work with the private sector,” as evidenced by the meetings in the Peruvian city prior to the OAS Assembly, “such as those of the Trust for the Americas and the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), integrated by businessmen and women of the region who have done a brilliant job in Haiti” following the devastating earthquake that struck this year.

He also recognized “the important contribution that the private sector conducts to promote social development and sustainable economic growth with equity and social inclusion in the countries of the region,” and he asserted that “from the General Secretariat we will continue to promote public-private alliances in the economic, social and educational sectors under corporate social responsibility.”

For his part, the Minister of Production of Peru, José Nicanor Gonzales, who moderated the dialogue, underlined that the objectives pursued in the Declaration of Lima, to be signed at the conclusion of the Assembly, “cannot be the responsibility of a single sector but a collective responsibility that comprises all of society, where each individual and each group has its own role.”

The Minister thanked the presence of the business leaders “because with their ideas they will contribute to the search for solutions to the challenges on the inter-American agenda, in particular for the promotion of peace, security, cooperation in the Americas.”

For his part, Enrique de Obarrio, Vice President of the Private Sector of the Americas, thanked and congratulated the OAS Secretary General for “leading the efforts to pave and strengthen the roads for constructive dialogue not only with the private sector, but also with civil society and workers.” Obarrio added that the sector he represents “is certain that the existence of a plural and multi-sector debate allows for broad dialogue and that only in this way will it be able to continue to formulate the public-private alliances destined to successfully reach the goals of inclusive development for peace in the hemisphere.”

The business representative said the member countries of the OAS must promote “education, values, laws of transparency, comprehensive plans for citizen security with concrete and effective actions, in addition to public policies for economic growth with social equity.”

The Vice Presidente of the continental Private Sector said this year the Private Sector Forum, usually another of the activities prior to the OAS Assembly, did not take place because “we decided to channel all the money we had budgeted for this forum to the cause in Haiti, where we will give a donation.”

For his part, Eduardo Farah, Chairman of the Andean Business Advisory Council, highlighted that “we are convinced that the OAS does well in calling on workers, civil society and entrepreneurs to exchange ideas and try to solve their problems. There is a need to strengthen mechanisms of cooperation at the bi-national and sub-regional levels to strengthen the Member States and to confront holistically the new threats that affect their populations,” specifically “drug trafficking, terrorism, human trafficking and corruption, which is a very important subject to all countries.” “We businessmen and women are aware that we have partners, who are the workers and civil society and we are convinced that with them we are always going to find a common road,” he said.

Finally, John Craig, lawyer at the Canadian Business Council and representative of the Business Technical Advisory Committee on Labor Matters (CEATAL), asserted that the Declaration of Lima “recognizes that the subjects of peace, cooperation and security are multidimensional” and are not defined “in narrow political terms but are contextualized to refresh the underlined socio-economic challenges that FACE the Americas.”

Furthermore, he highlighted that “there are many factors that contribute to stable and peaceful societies and in our view the creation of sustainable productive employment is one of the most important factors. Experience demonstrates that the private sector and specifically micro, small and medium-size enterprises are crucial in creating productive sustainable employment.”

Lastly, he recognized the OAS for “doing innovative work in creating jobs for young people and promoting entrepreneurship as an alternative career path.”

Representatives of Panama, United States, Belize, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia and Brazil gave examples of the results the public-private alliance has had in their countries and agreed on the benefits that joint work has for the hemisphere.

Photos of the event will be available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org

Reference: E-226/10