“In recent weeks and months, during preparations for the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit, Slovenia and Peru have established very close cooperation. We have, in fact, become friends during that time,” said the Slovenian Prime Minister and President of the European Council, Mr Janez Janša, after today’s meeting with the President of the Republic of Peru, Mr Alan García Pérez. He highlighted the exemplary cooperation to date between the two countries and expressed the hope that the Summit would represent a step forward in the cooperation between the European Union and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Slovenian Prime Minister and President of the European Council, Janez Janša, was received with military honours by the host, the President of the Republic of Peru, Alan García Pérez, with whom he will co-chair the Summit over the next two days. After their meeting, which was mainly devoted to this year’s summit, the Prime Minister commented that in the coming years, cooperation between countries from the two continents would be enhanced, indeed economic cooperation is already on the increase. “This year’s summit will certainly mean a great step forward in our cooperation,” was the Slovenian Prime Minister’s optimistic view. He described Peru as pursuing a pragmatic economic and development policy which could set an example to other Latin American countries.
In the morning, both statesmen attended the opening of the 2nd EU-LAC Business Summit, which is bringing together several hundred businessmen from the two regions, including around 25 representatives of Slovenia’s economy. The Slovenian Prime Minister and President of the European Council, Janez Janša, stressed that the case of Latin America and the Caribbean showed that economic growth was the most powerful weapon in the fight against poverty. He also said that Latin America’s opportunities for addressing challenges in the world economy had never been greater. He drew attention to the fact, however, that the key task continued to be achieving the Millennium Development Goals, adding that, as the biggest donor in the region, the European Union would also be willing to offer assistance in future.
“The European experience shows that succeeding in the global world requires a bit more than just the opening of the market. Functioning democratic institutions and the rule of law are a prerequisite,” said the PM. He cautioned that bottlenecks in the fields of infrastructure, innovation, education and health should be eliminated in order for the people of all social strata to benefit from development.
In the Prime Minister’s words, the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean have especially good opportunities for cooperation in the field of combating climate change. The European Union is introducing practical measures but is also expecting a favourable response worldwide and in these efforts, given their wealth of natural resources and biodiversity, Latin American and Caribbean countries play a vital role.
On the eve of Friday’s EU-LAC Summit, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and President of the European Council, Janez Janša, also had a meeting with the President of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Barroso. Tomorrow the Prime Minister will be co-chairing the EU-LAC Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will focus in particular on the fight against poverty and climate change.
