Speaking for the foreign ministers meeting for the First Meeting of Iberoamerican Foreign Relations Ministers in Santo Domingo, Chilean Foreign Minister Andres Allamand, told the press that the ministers would work together to contribute to solutions to the current crisis in Haiti. Allamand was elected secretary-general of the new dialogue group.
Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez was the host for the event held at the Hotel El Embajador in Santo Domingo.
The representatives of 22 Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal agreed in an unanimous vote to seek a workable solution to the issues in Haiti. The ministers also called for more multilateral relations to reach agreements and consensus on new ideas to help recover from the economic downturn associated with the Covid-19 virus pandemic.
In the Declaration, they agreed to work together on key issues:
Vaccines. Demand that the international community promote actions that guarantee universal, timely, equitable, fair, quality, unrestricted and affordable access to effective vaccines, medical supplies, diagnostics and medicines, so that gaps and inequalities between and within countries do not prevail. Promote the various multilateral, bilateral and national initiatives launched in Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, Brazil and Chile for research, development, local production, packaging and distribution of vaccines against Covid-19.
Financing. Promote in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussions of alternatives to voluntarily channel Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from countries that do not need them to those that do, for example, through the new Trust Fund for Resilience and Sustainability (TFRS). Further discuss the IMF surcharge policy and its temporary suspension during the pandemic. Analyze possible increases in resources and capitalization of multilateral development banks in the region, and consider the possibility that these entities could hold SDRs.
Intellectual Property. Promote, without prejudice to the discussions underway in the World Trade Organization (WTO), a discussion in the Ibero-American sphere on the impact of intellectual property rights on public health, with the aim of developing, in the face of the pandemic, flexible proposals of global scope that facilitate access and equitable distribution of technologies, medicines and vaccines.
Culture. Support the Ibero-American Reciprocal Guarantee System and Fund as a measure that will contribute to the recovery of the cultural sector and its industries and to the promotion of competitiveness and innovation of MSMEs and cultural entrepreneurs. Recognize 2022 as the Ibero-American Year of Culture and Sustainable Development.
Ibero-American Summit of 2024. The foreign ministers approved that, after the Dominican Republic, Ecuador will hold the Pro Tempore Secretariat of the Ibero-American Conference and host the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government.
Most of these agreements were reached after holding previous ministerial meetings in the areas of economy and finance, culture and health.
The First Meeting of Ibero-American Ministers of Foreign Affairs, organized by the Dominican Republic in its capacity as Pro Tempore Secretariat of the Ibero-American Conference and the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), was inaugurated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, Roberto Álvarez and the Acting Ibero-American Secretary General, Marcos Pinta Gama.
The foreign ministers’ meeting, which was preceded by the II Meeting of National Coordinators and Cooperation Officers on November 24 and 25, was part of the preparatory meetings for the 28th Ibero-American Summit.
The 28th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government will be held in the Dominican Republic in 2022 with the motto “Together for a fair and sustainable Ibero-America.”
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Ministry of Foreign Relations
Presidency
Listin Diario
N Digital
29 November 2021