Allow the Rio Group to Lobby For The LAC – Golding

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, today December 17, called for nations of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), to allow the Rio Group to become an institution to lobby for development in the region.
He was speaking at the Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean on Integration and Development in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
The Prime Minister noted that the Rio Group, which first met 20 years ago, now includes all 33 countries in the region and is best placed to be the vehicle for negotiating with other global economic blocs.
Underscoring that the region’s greatest potential was its population of 500 million, Prime Minister Golding said that the time had come to give more opportunities to the peoples of the region and not look for opportunities outside of the region.
He said that despite the disputes and unresolved issues that exist between countries in the LAC, there were several areas of consensus among them.
Prime Minister Golding suggested that if it were equipped with the necessary technical and administrative capacity, the Rio Group could be a vehicle for development. He noted that if an effective plan of action was devised and implemented, Governments could be enabled to achieve goals that would lead to a better quality of life for their people.