On June 27, business leaders from the region will present their proposals to the presidents for improving and eliminating barriers to intraregional trade.
In the meeting with the presidents from the region scheduled for June 27 in the Dominican Republic, guilds that make up the Federation of Private Entities of Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic (FEDEPRICAP), will describe once again the obstacles that currently limit the competitiveness of Central American companies.
Panama's Foreign Minister has announced the completion of a "luxury summit" for Latin American leaders in the month of October.
Festieventos SA will be the company responsible for the organization of the XXIII Latin American Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Panama on the 18th and 19th of October.
This was the only company that participated in the bidding process conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama.
Presidents and representatives from the governments of Central America are participating in a mini-summit with Hillary Clinton.
Nicaragua is the only country missing. They opted not to send anyone to the meeting.
“The U.S. State Secretary arrives to Guatemala from Costa Rica, where she expressed Barack Obama’s commitment to help Central American countries in their fight against drug trafficking”.
Guatemala’s president invited the region’s president to a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will visit the country.
The objective of the meeting is to strengthen U.S.-C.A. relations in security, investment, trade and migration.
“Honduran president Porfirio Lobo and El Salvador’s Mauricio Funes have confirmed they will attend. The rest still have to confirm their participation”, reported Elfinanciero.com.mx.
On May 31, Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa will visit Honduras
The official agenda is unknown at the moment, said the Honduran Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Eduardo Rosales.
Newspaper Proceso Digital reported the secretary’s statements: "There are many 'political issues.' Zelaya and Correa could also address cooperation, exchange of experience in agriculture and tourism, among other issues."
The limitations imposed by its larger partners in Mercosur prevent Uruguay from progressing toward an FTA.
In this context, what was left was to sign a series of cooperation agreements in the areas of trade, postal services, education and technology.
Presidents Oscar Arias and Tabaré Vásquez announced the creation of a Uruguay-Costa Rica Chamber of Commerce "which will help expand trade between both nations."
For Andrés Oppenheimer, the draft of the final declaration of the Summit of the Americas, which begins on April 17, is much like a joke.
The analyst reviewed the document, whose final details are being adjusted, and stated that instead of hundreds of paragraphs listing each agreement and statement already concurred and declared in previous meetings, they would save a lot of time and taxpayers' money by simply concluding that "the commitment to the agreements signed in previous meetings is reaffirmed."
For Andrés Oppenheimer, the draft of the final declaration of the Summit of the Americas, which begins on April 17, is much like a joke.
The analyst reviewed the document, whose final details are being adjusted, and stated that instead of hundreds of paragraphs listing each agreement and statement already concurred and declared in previous meetings, they would save a lot of time and taxpayers' money by simply concluding that "the commitment to the agreements signed in previous meetings is reaffirmed."
The SICA summit ended with a declaration that includes a dozen measures that they are seeking to implement in order to deal with the global financial crisis.
DECLARATION
The session ended with the reading of the "Declaration of San Pedro Sula", which sets out the resolutions that the leaders of the region plan to carry out immediately and in the future, within the framework of a series of meetings that SICA will continue to hold next year.
What has come out of the meeting of Ibero-American countries in El Salvador?
The truth is a little bit of noise - but not much popular impact - and at least some nuts. What is certain is that nothing much as come out of it, besides the support by "developing" countries that will be represented a the next summit in Washington, pushing for the presence of Zapatero in the American capital.
Salvadoran president Antonio Saca, the general secretary of Ibero-America, Enrique Iglesias, and the Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet will all speak at the summit's opening.
The meeting of Heads of State and of Government was previously prepared by Foreign ministers, and will approved the following documents: The Declaration of El Salvador, a complementary Action Plan and several releases on specific matters, which will then be submitted for a final decision by the Heads of State and of Government.
Salvadoran authorities are completing final details to host the XVIII Ibero-American Summit of heads of state and government from October 29 to 31.
Delegations from 22 countries in the region are expected to attend this huge event that will be held at the Fair and Convention Center, which is located int he western sector of the Salvadoran capital.
"We have created a logistical structure in order to cover all the needs of an event of this nature," said Cesar Enrique Arevalo of the organizing committee.
The region made a petition to the Central American Bank for Economic Integration that could reach $2 billion, that is $400 for each one of the five countries in SICA.
Central America is seeking its own financial rescue plan. After analyzing the possible effects of the financial crisis in the United States on the region, the Heads of State of the Central American Integration System (SICA) asked the BCIE "to consider the possibility of extending lines of credit for up to $200 million for the Central Banks" in the region.
The presidents of the countries that make up SICA will meet tomorrow to discuss public safety, the progress of integration, free trade and the impact of the US financial crisis in the region.
Earlier it was reported that the purpose of the presidential summit was to discuss violence and crime in the region, immigration and the environment, but its was later decided to give priority to the eventual effects of the US economic crisis.
El Salvador's President, Elías Antonio Saca, confirmed that the summit of Central American presidents will take place in San Salvador on June 27.
"We will be dealing with many themes from the common agenda of Central American countries," said Saca, though he remained vague about which specific topics would be discussed.
He said that at the meeting, the rotating presidency of the System of Central American Integration will be passed to Honduras.