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At OAS, Vice President of the Dominican Republic Presents Fifth Competitiveness Forum of the Americas

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) met today in a special session to welcome the Vice President of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Alburquerque, who during a presentation to the members of the council gave details in preparation for the Fifth Competitiveness Forum of the Americas (CFA) to be held in the Caribbean country's capital, Santo Domingo, October 5 - 7, 2011.

During his presentation, Vice President Alburquerque described the Forum as the most important event in the continent on the subject, "where each year it brings together the top representatives of the public, private and academic sectors to discuss trade and competitiveness in our countries."

The Dominican government representative thanked the OAS for the work performed in the Inter-American Competitiveness Permanent Technical Secretariat (RIAC) and for holding the event. He further noted that his country hopes that the Fifth Competitiveness Forum of the Americas, whose theme this year focuses on a Commitment to Education and Competitiveness, "remains the ideal gathering of public and private sectors to discuss and exchange ideas on best practices." The Vice President said that the highest authorities from the countries in the region have already confirmed their participation in the forum.

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, underscored the leadership of the Dominican Republic authorities in organizing the Forum and the commitment of this country to the issue of competitiveness, saying that it "has the potential to generate a long-term integrated vision to promote productivity, institutional capacity and innovation, in the context of the agendas of competitiveness in our countries."

The head of the hemispheric organization also highlighted as a "priority for the General Secretariat, the issue of competitiveness and the spaces that promote policy dialogue, cooperation and exchange of best practices and lessons learned among our members."

"We see competitiveness as the set of economic, social, environmental and institutional participation that enables sustainable development of enterprises, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in national and international markets, with the goal of achieving a better quality of life for all people," the Secretary General said. In this regard, he underscored that at the OAS "we believe that competition goes beyond national borders and can be strengthened through collaboration at the regional and sub-regional levels."

The Director of the National Competitiveness Council of the Dominican Republic, Andrés Van der Horst, also addressed the Council by providing full details of the implementation of the Forum, and encouraged member countries to "pool efforts to continue common use of best competitivenes practices in the region," adding that the Forum will be "the best space for the rich dialogue between all actors."

Van der Horst also said that in this fifth edition, the RIAC will seek to reach the Santo Domingo Consensus, a document that will define the 10 general principles of competitiveness, and which seeks to trace the basis for the establishment of a regional agenda on the issue.

"The Dominican Republic is ready, as host, to welcome guests at the Fifth Competitiveness Forum of the Americas, an event that will discuss such fundamental issues as: the green economy, education for competitiveness, business climate, innovation in services and trade facilitation," Van der Horst said. He added that the most important issue "is the theme of Commitment Education to Compete." He explained that at the RIAC "we understand that the foundation for competitiveness in these times has to be a much higher quality education in our countries."

At the end of the presentations, the Permanent Representatives of Colombia, USA, Chile, Mexico, and El Salvador offered their support and welcomed the event while stressed the importance of the Forum to the hemisphere.

The Competitiveness Forum was held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, in 2007, 2008, and 2010, and in Santiago de Chile in 2009. The CFA is intended to facilitate the development of business and enable the exchange of ideas and knowledge to the countries of the Americas, to become more innovative, productive and competitive.

More information about the forum is available here.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-820/11