Neoliberal Globalization Slows Development
Havana, Feb 8 (Prensa Latina) Neoliberal globalization weighs down development possibilities of Third World countries and leaves them to their fate, participants at the 7th International Economists Meeting agreed, during debates at Havana´s International Conference Center.
Hundreds of delegates from 46 countries and top officials from international institutions at the event are analyzing the main problems affecting development in the world.
Malaysian Jomo Kwame Sundaram, UN Assistant Secretary-General on Economic Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, called for the transformation of the world´s financial architecture and aiming it more at serving people´s needs. The UN official said the so-called Washington Consensus failed to solve the human development issue.
The International Monetary Fund has not prevented financial and monetary volatility and its formulas were unable to beat poverty or stagnation, according to Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
Jan Kregel of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs criticized the IMF and the World Bank for failing to find a solution to differences between rich and poor nations. Kregel supported industrialization in developing countries and said they should not obstructed in development, mainly in the productive sector.
Professor Arturo Huerta of the National Autonomous University of Mexico said Latin American governments have lost the possibility of applying for economic policies because they are subject to IMF plans. He added that financial ministries are forced to negotiate under the rules of international financial institutions, hindering Latin American nations to find their way to development.
Dominican accountant Rodolfo Valentino complained that the US-promoted Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) does not include the interests of large social sectors.
Bolivian economist Osvaldo Gutiérrez defended the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), proposed by Venezuela, and described it as the only way for integration and cooperation to form a Latin American and Caribbean bloc.
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Agriculture Heats Up FTAA Negotiations with US
Bogota, Feb 8 (Prensa Latina) The 7th Round of the negotiations between Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and United States for a Free Trade Agreement for the Americas (FTAA) is being marked by the Andean countries" choice for separate discussions on the terms of agriculture.
All three consider it very damaging and unlawful for their respective economies to compete against US subsidized agribusiness. Also on the agenda lies zero tax for sensitive produces like milk derivatives, chicken, soy, sugar, tobacco, cotton and corn.
With respect to copyrights, Colombian Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Jorge Humberto Botero, stressed that the red line for intellectual property on pharmaceutical productions is drawn by public health concerns over commercial interests.
The head of the Colombian delegation to the talks, Hernando Jose Gomez, said the significant advances in this 7th round may turn it into the penultimate, hence the last would be next month in Washington to finally approve the FTAA January, 2006 implementation.
However, Union leaders like Javier Diaz, president of the National Exports Association (ANALDEX), and Ivan Amaya, president of Colombia"s Textiles Association (ASCOLTEX), doubt the negotiations will end next month.
Both say there is still plenty to discuss on preferential tariffs and rules of origin, market accessibility, investments, telecommunications, overseas services, safeguards, environmental affair and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
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