The Inter-American Development Bank returns to Peru, returns to Lima, after several decades of absence. For us, this is a reason for satisfaction with and recognition of the efforts that this country has made to receive us in these sessions, which we hope will be successful for all the participants and for our countries in particular.

I consider it gratifying that the first formal and official action on the agenda is scheduled to take place at this entity. With this, and to my great satisfaction, the boat departs on a active 10 day itinerary here in Lima.

I remember well when this integration effort was born at the end of the 60’s, and I also remember a bit of the climate of said decade. The decade of the 60’s was a decade that I tend to point out as one of the most brilliant decades in the second half of the past century in our Latin America. Good growth and the debate of important social topics, where institutionality was created, planning efforts began, and, at the same time, the vigorous integrationist spirit that inaugurated the ALALC in 1959 emerged. Institutions were created, the Inter-American Development Bank emerged, the Andean Development Corporation came about, the contemporary common market emerged –having been born before but now taking off with greater vigor. In essence, it was a very creative decade and it was in this decade that the topic of integration, of navigating together through out the world and exploring and exploiting the possibilities that this joint navigation offers, became enormously important. There were inspired men, very motivated political leaders that more or less made this the epicenter for political cooperation in our Latin America and The Caribbean.

This entity is a product of this effort and the truth is that many things have come from this inspiration. We must recognize that there were high points and low points, as are always present in this type of initiative; however, it was a truly brilliant period where the importance of acting together on the international scene was valued. As Allan pointed out, the world has changed; the region has changed and our countries are changing. We have new and important challenges that bring us together through an enormous force, meaning the irresistible force of globalization with all of its assets and liabilities. These forces are present in the area of trade and the area of technology as well as the financial ambit. They are also present in the transformation of companies and ultimately within this New World where a second floor has emerged. The market entry of China and India as well as that of Eastern European economies in transition have generated extraordinarily vigorous phenomena in the world, along with considerable assets and great challenges.

This once again calls somewhat upon Latin American political forces because our insertion into the world goes along different paths and all of these will be shifting directions. We have a multilateral track that brings us together at Doha, we have hemispheric track coupled with a vigorous US Trade policy like none other in our pool of experience; we have the European Union and new relations with Asia, which are beginning to have and will have great importance in our region in the coming years.

This brings us to institutions such as yours, such as ours, such as others in the region who must examine what it is they wish to do, which is modernizing the agenda, and how we can help our countries in these immense challenges that determine the road that Latin America will take in coming years. Things that will be agreed upon this year will constitute very important steps, in the years to come, on the road to defining options and overcoming, little by little, the limitations that we continue to experience in our economic development. We will grow a bit in our social development; there are still many poor people in the Latin America and considerable inequality continues to exist. This is a challenge that must be assumed with great vigor. I believe that deep down one feels tempted to evoke somewhat that spirit, that under other conditions and in a different framework, continues to be valid today. This means that doing things together constitutes a fundamental instrument. This region has, unlike any other developing region in the world has or even Europe had, a capacity for joint action that is truly an asset stemming from the history that we all share. I believe that the effort that you are making to modernize the agenda and make it functional within these new realities is fundamentally important.

I believe that there are many instruments in play, but one of those mentioned by Allan holds particular importance in my opinion: the significant efforts made towards competitiveness. For example, we have signed, with the President of the Central Bank in Peru, an effort to increase competitiveness in order to truly actively participate and at the same time improve upon all aspects of competitiveness, including: infrastructure, legislation and the creation of an adequate legal climate. Here, we are going to advance some of our business initiatives; we have 11 or 12 countries about to engage in studies and work directed towards generating a climate for private investment both internally and externally.

The challenges are enormous, and it is important to rescue the spirit of the 60’s, where joint action possessed assets that we must now value. This is somewhat the reason behind the meetings being held at this entity, a reason shared by the CAF and other integration organizations. How can we go about recognizing these new realities; these new perspectives that offer the world great opportunities but also immense dangers; these irresistible forces present in the world of trade and the globalization of all of these orders? We can be left out; they can incorporate us into the effort. I believe that the danger exists that we will fall behind if we do not truly make significant efforts to modernize institutions and insert ourselves in the dialogue on economically and socially responsible modernization. This is because not just any type of modernization is useful; instead, this modernization must be truly capable of giving Latin America the social justice that today is most certainly scarce.

We must take on this topic and effort together. There is room for isolated action; institutions must have the capacity to move together jointly in order to truly assist countries on multiple fronts. Allan spoke of negotiating; of course, we have been working together on this here, in this task of helping countries to negotiate. But as you so aptly expressed, negotiating alone is not enough; countries must understand that in this integrated world, the open world in which we are living, we must diligently prepare ourselves in the area of internal country reforms. On the contrary, we will be left with many liabilities and few assets. Today, speaking with our friends from Central America, who have just signed an agreement with the United States, I say that you must be conscious of what this means. It means opportunities and enormous risks and if we are not prepared, we will be left with globalization´s liabilities and will enjoy either none or very few of the assets offered by this international insertion.

I would like to say that these cooperation agreements are part of what we have been working on with you and we are going to continue to do so in the future. We are very content to be able to collaborate in these two initiatives and we are also happy to see that this entity has begun to tackle new topics on the world agenda. For example, the biodiversity theme is very important here in this region so blessed with biodiversity. The fact that this topic is being worked on systemically, conscientiously and responsibly constitutes, in my opinion, a significant initiative. I should say here, in closing, that these programs were initiated and debated with someone who demonstrated great initiative -our dear friend Sebastian Alegrett. I would like to say that this is the first time that I have been to this entity since Mr.Alegrett passed way, and I would like to take a moment, in closing, to remember him. He, like few others, represented a profound conviction that was almost an act of personal commitment to Latin American integration, and perhaps even a philosophy for life.

Allan, for this reason, I will close my speech by recalling a friend who is no longer with us in order to say that we are moving ahead and that the spirit that he evoked on so many occasions continues to be present in this entity and in the helping hands that we extend to one another and to you.

Thank You