Doha – The defence of global solutions to international problems, such as the financial crisis and global warming, set the tone of the 2nd Summit of South American-Arab Countries (Aspa), held this Tuesday (31st) in Doha, Qatar. The meeting of heads of state and government was marked by a fierce defence of multilateralism. "There will be no solution to the serious international problems without the participation of all relevant players," said the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The meeting was attended by heads of state, of government and diplomats from 34 different countries.
The crisis was mentioned in virtually all of the speeches, given that the summit of the G-20, comprised of the 20 largest world economies, is going to place next Thursday (2nd) in London, precisely to address the matter. The president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, stated that the countries in the two blocs should send a "powerful message" to the G-20, taking into account that Brazil, Argentina and Saudi Arabia are members of the group. "If we do not fight the economic crisis, then we are going to have a social crisis," she said.
The opinions common to countries from the two regions regarding the matter were included in the summit’s final statement, the Doha Declaration. The text underscores the importance of having a new international financial architecture, one that is "congruous with social and economic development."
"From the crisis there emerges a new economic order, which should be more representative than it is today," stated Bachelet. "After all, the world has changed since Bretton-Woods," she added, referring to the post-war agreement that led to the creation of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
To Lula, the crisis entails the "breaking of a paradigm" and shows that emerging countries must unite to defend their common interests. "We have the extraordinary opportunity to present consistent proposals for reforming global governance," declared the Brazilian president.
"I say that socialism is the only solution to the large global crisis, there is no solution within capitalism," said the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, whose speech, as usual, included several catch phrases and was the longest in the event.
In addition to calling for joint solutions and the reform of multilateral institutions, the Arab and South American leaders underscored the importance of encouraging international trade as a means for reducing the effects of the crisis. In that regard, they spoke against protectionist measures and highlighted the need for concluding the Doha Round for trade liberalisation, within the scope of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The secretary general of the League of Arab States, Amr Mussa, asserted that the three Arab and South American countries that are part of the G-20 are heading to the London summit with consensual opinions and a spirit of cooperation and solidarity. The final statement of the summit asserts that the "mechanisms for cooperation among Southern countries need strengthening in order to prevent crises and poverty."
The emir of Qatar, Ahmad Bin Khalifa A-Thani, who played host to the summit, stated that there are lots of common features between the countries in the two blocs concerning the "path to development." "I hope that our efforts will pay off," he declared.
Also in the economic area, another topic discussed were complementary aspects of the economies of the two blocs: on the one hand, the Arabs, as large producers of oil and gas and, on the other hand, the South Americans, as important suppliers of foodstuffs. According to Lula, these complementary aspects may be used in order to take advantage of the opportunities in "economies that are becoming more and more internationalised."
To that extent, he called attention to the expansion of trade between the two regions since the first Aspa summit. The bilateral trade volume went from US$ 11 billion in 2004 to US$ 30 billion in 2008, growth of 170%. "This is proof of the huge potential of South-South trade," said Lula.
In an interview, the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Salim Schahin, said that during the America-Arab Countries Business Forum, held before the summit, he perceived an interest from Arab businessmen in investing in food production in South America in order to supply their own markets. "They, on the other hand, have much knowledge when it comes to petroleum," he said. "What matters is that we grow closer and closer," he added.
In Schahin’s assessment, South-South cooperation is "extremely important" in order to "lay the foundations for a better future." At the forum, according to him, in addition to the food industry, many discussions revolved around the areas of petroleum, energy, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
The Chilean president said, however, that the need for fighting the crisis cannot be used as an excuse for doing nothing about global warming, and claimed that if part of the "trillions of dollars" used in order to save the international financial system were put to use for the production of clean energies, then "hundreds of millions of jobs" would be created.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum