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OAS Secretary General Calls on Maximizing Public-Private Partnerships to Overcome Challenges Facing Hemisphere

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, made a call today to multilateral organizations, governments of the Americas, and the private sector to work jointly in search of overcoming the obstacles facing the peoples of the Hemisphere, in the framework of the annual meeting of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA).

“The message should be that we have to increase as much as we can public-private partnerships, not only in matters of business," he said, and added that "we are working together and will continue to do so." In this sense, he noted some of the fruits of that cooperation: "We are encouraged to see in several countries support from the private sector to strengthen our capabilities in the fight against crime, and in particular organized crime. We are encouraged by the willingness of several groups in the private sector to become involved in the principal problem of the region: inequality and poverty. We are encouraged by the private sector's efforts to face unemployment, particularly among the youth," he said, in the headquarters of the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC.

In the case of the OAS, Secretary General Insulza said that in the foundational Charter of the Organization, the Member States "agreed that equality of opportunity, the elimination of extreme poverty, equitable distribution of wealth and income, and the full participation of their peoples in decisions relating to their own development are, among others, basic objectives of integral development." To reach these objectives, he continued, in Article 34 of the Charter, "The Member States likewise agreed to devote their utmost efforts to accomplishing certain basic goals, among which figure the promotion of private initiative and investment in harmony with action in the public sector."

The head of the hemispheric organization mentioned that, in the Summits of the Americas, the Heads of State and Government of the member countries of the OAS have repeatedly recognized "the important role that public-private partnerships play in strengthening democracy, combating corruption, assuring sustainable energy, and developing small and medium-sized enterprises." In this sense, he explained that the last Summit of the Americas, held in Port of Spain in 2009, the leaders of the Hemisphere to continue exploring ways for the governments to build, strengthen maintain partnerships with all sectors of society, especially the business, labor, and academic sectors, among other things.

On the road to the Sixth Summit of the Americas, Secretary General Insulza described the efforts of the OAS to include the subject of public-private partnerships in the agenda of the event to be held April 14 and 15 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, in search of initiatives that contribute to reach the objectives the Organization has set itself in its integral development agenda. As an example, he referred to the recent Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Competitiveness Network (RIAC) in Santo Domingo, in which the member countries adopted the "Consensus of Santo Domingo." This document, to be submitted to the Summit of Cartagena, includes ten principles to stimulate commerce and integration, foment social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, gender equity, and improving access to capital for economic stakeholders.

Similarly, the head of the OAS announced that the hemispheric institution will co-organize the Third Hemispheric Private Sector Forum, to be held in Cartagena days before the meeting of Heads of State and Government, and added that in the upcoming weeks the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development of the Organization will conduct a survey to hemispheric private sector organizations like the AACCLA "to help identify the perspectives of the private sector on the themes of the Sixth Summit of the Americas, obtain recommendations from the private sector, and motivate that sector to propose initiatives and commitments on the subject of the Summit."

In this context, he congratulated the Government of the United States for passage of free trade agreements with Panama and Colombia, which in his judgment constitutes a message: "that the United States really wants to be involved with the rest of the Americas on matters of free trade." "The benefits of free trade are significant and play a central role in all future economic development," he added.

He also recalled that the hemispheric Organization promotes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the values of transparency, accountability and consistency in public policies. "The OAS shares these values and also conducts activities aimed at raising awareness on the principles of CSR, locating them within government agendas and private sector strategies," he said.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-901/11