The Ibero-American summit held in Santo Domingo had among its principles "the obtaining of concrete results that have a positive impact on the quality of life of the inhabitants of Ibero-America". One of the objectives of the meeting was to promote a new international financial architecture that would allow combating systematic crises through innovative instruments, such as the debt swap by nature, thus avoiding the increase in the indebtedness of developing countries, as proposed by the Dominican Republic when assuming the pro tempore secretariat of the Ibero-American Conference on International Financial Architecture. But the foreign ministers of the 22 countries, in a closed-door session held on Friday, did not reach a common agreement and this point was sidelined.
The agreed working documents include a proposal for a "Critical Path of Food, Inclusive and Sustainable Food Security in Ibero-America", the "Ibero-American Environmental Charter," which contributes to protecting our habitat and oceans; and the "Ibero-American Charter of Principles and Rights in Digital Environments", to guarantee the exercise of fundamental rights in the framework of digital transformation. But a new international financial architecture will not be promoted.
This was one of the big bets of the event and for which the Dominican Republic had bet as host. New, more equitable financing options for the region, which would allow them to face challenges such as hunger, poverty, the climate crisis and inequality. This was reiterated and explained by the Minister of Finance, Jochi Vicente, at the beginning of the summit. "This contributes to countries' ability to absorb potential external shocks and finance government operations in the context of continued pressures on the spending side to combat the erosion of citizens' purchasing power and contain social outbursts," he said.
From the Spanish government they had been confident that this point, which has been working and discussed since the Ibero-American summit held in Andorra, would go ahead. A fair, inclusive and flexible system that allows Ibero-American countries to better face the processes of post-pandemic recovery, energy transition, climate adaptation and the fight against inequality, as defined by the Ibero-American Secretary General, Andrés Allamand.
The importance of this aspect was also highlighted in that it was one of the issues addressed at the Ibero-American Business Meeting that preceded the celebration of the summit, focusing on two aspects: -thematic bonds as new development instruments to finance innovation and the role of multilateral financing organizations in a new investment scenario.
Food security, environment, digital rights and a new financial architecture were challenges of the summit. This was assessed by the Ibero-American General Secretariat itself, from which it was stressed that in the face of a series of concatenated crises that have caused greater social conflict in "a world infarcted with systematic shocks, and that the summit in the Dominican Republic should discuss changes in the international financial structure that may favor the countries of the region.
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