The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Barbados, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay on the occasion of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity July Ministerial.
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We, the foreign ministers of the 12 Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (Americas Partnership) countries, are committed to fulfilling our hemisphere’s potential to foster inclusive, sustainable, shared prosperity for all. Our collective efforts to promote equitable economic growth and opportunity are rooted in a belief that democratic governance requires delivering tangible results for our people. Shared values anchor our commitment, including respect for democracy and the rule of law, diversity and inclusion, environmental and social protection, labor rights, and human rights.
At the inaugural Americas Partnership Summit on November 3, 2023, our leaders stated their intention to significantly strengthen our economic partnership through an enduring, high-level forum for deepening economic collaboration and integration that can take on the major global challenges of our time, from combatting the climate crisis to promoting greater social and economic opportunity. The leaders offered a roadmap to strengthen cooperation, integration, and innovation, asking foreign, trade, and finance ministers to focus on the following cross-cutting priorities:
- Strengthening regional competitiveness and integration
- Fostering shared prosperity and good governance
- Building sustainable infrastructure
- Protecting the climate and environment
- Promoting healthy communities
High-Impact Cooperation on Priority Issues for Our People
Today, we report important progress in advancing our objectives by promoting inclusive entrepreneurship, clean hydrogen, respect for the rule of law and transparency, sustainable food production, digital workforce development, and civilian space cooperation.
To expand entrepreneurship opportunities and provide entrepreneurs access to capital, Canada, the United States, and Uruguay are co-leading an effort to train an inclusive, diverse cohort of entrepreneurs. The USAID CATALYZE Americas Partnership Accelerator has started training the first cohort of social impact entrepreneurs from four Americas Partnership countries. The Accelerate Women Entrepreneurs Program will soon begin training its first cohorts of women-led/owned small and medium sized enterprises from six countries. These accelerator programs are designed to support approximately 750 entrepreneurs in ten Americas Partnership countries over three years and steer some of those graduates toward an Angel Investor Network led by the Uruguay Innovation Hub in partnership with IDB Lab.
To expand access to opportunity in the digital economy, we plan to build upon the successful semiconductor workforce symposium held in January in Costa Rica with a second semiconductor symposium September 5-6 in Mexico to identify opportunities in the semiconductor supplier ecosystem. We plan to accelerate efforts to work together with Costa Rica´s Center of Excellence to offer virtual regional courses in cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, and other related digital areas. We seek to offer virtual digital skills and training region-wide to accelerator graduates and startups as part of the Angel Investor Network platform, under a joint entrepreneurship and digital workforce umbrella.
To advance our shared clean energy and decarbonization goals, the Americas Partnership clean hydrogen working group was established to promote clean hydrogen and derivatives in our respective countries and realize our hemisphere’s potential as a leading region for investment in clean hydrogen and derivatives. Co-led by Chile, Uruguay, and the United States, the working group aims to help all countries assess the viability of clean hydrogen and derivatives in meeting their national clean energy and climate goals and where viable, through commercial development of projects. The working group launched a series of technical workshops focused on developing national policy, regulatory, and investment frameworks to support production and use of clean hydrogen and derivatives in which all partners benefit from the collective experiences of Americas Partnership members governments, independent experts, and private companies investing in clean hydrogen and derivatives projects in Americas Partnership countries and globally. By fostering the development and adoption of national strategies and roadmaps, the Americas Partnership is accelerating the development of clean hydrogen markets, value, and supply chains across the region. To support this aim, the working group is building upon the successful technical workshops by pursuing additional capacity building activities.
To strengthen the rule of law, transparency, and anti-corruption efforts, we are exchanging best practices and sharing information, most recently in a workshop hosted by the Dominican Republic, which showcased different models for fostering a culture of transparency and ethics in critical government functions. Between now and the Americas Partnership Summit of 2025, all partners plan, with technical assistance from sources such as the UNODC anti-corruption hubs, to convene stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society, to adopt and maintain measures for improved procurement practices and greater transparency in the same, consistent with their obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption and domestic law.
To strengthen food security and sustainable food production, experts gathered for workshops in Ecuador and Peru. With support from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), we defined a regional agenda on bioeconomy initiatives, smart agriculture, deforestation-free sustainable production, and food systems transformation. Going forward and with the assistance of IICA, we intend to create a digital platform on sustainable agriculture best practices, resources, and opportunities, to promote the technical development of value chains for a more sustainable agricultural industry. We also intend to work on digital tools for traceability like the use of georeferencing to promote deforestation-free production and in a new generation of public policies that strengthen the agricultural and food systems of the Americas, which is essential to improve economic opportunities in rural areas and food security.
We are also strengthening our cooperation on the peaceful civilian uses of space through a working group co-led by the United States and Chile. That includes demonstrating how space-based assets and data can be used to improve forest fire and water management and exploring the impact of satellites on night sky astronomical observations. Going forward, we are continuing to focus on practical, impactful, environmental, and societal applications of space technology through the realization of additional workshops on the application of space and a possible space conference in 2025.
Innovative Financing Solutions for Sustainable Infrastructure and Biodiversity
We applaud the work being done in the trade and finance tracks of the Americas Partnership to enhance competitiveness, strengthen trade facilitation, and accelerate cooperation on financing for sustainable infrastructure. We recognize the importance of the ongoing collaboration between the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and IDB Invest to accelerate cooperation on financing for sustainable infrastructure through the Americas Partnership Platform.
We welcome our continued partnership with the IDB providing innovative financing mechanisms to mobilize investments in natural capital and biodiversity that advance climate change objectives through the Fund for Nature and looking forward to announcing specific projects in the coming years.
Strengthening Value and Supply Chain Competitiveness and Resilience
We appreciate the expertise and assistance of the IDB as we work to develop and strengthen resilient, secure, sustainable value and supply chains. We value the IDB competitiveness studies on critical minerals, semiconductors, and medical supplies coordinated under the finance and trade tracks.
Sustained Stakeholder Engagement for Results
We have engaged with private sector, civil society, and labor organizations to inform our work and continue to identify opportunities for further engagement with these key stakeholders. In this regard, we look forward to exploring the possibility of undertaking business delegations to partner countries, in coordination with the trade track.
Expanding the Partnership Consistent with High Standards
We collectively intend to expand the Americas Partnership to prospective participants and endorse a process that upholds the highest standards anchored in the principles of the East Room Declaration. To advance inclusive economic prosperity in the Western Hemisphere, we have adopted a formal process for considering prospective participants. Any nation in the Western Hemisphere that wishes to join the partnership can be considered by submitting an expression of interest to the foreign ministers of the Americas Partnership.
2025 Summit
We look forward to the 2025 Americas Partnership Leaders’ Summit in Costa Rica.
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For more information and media inquiries, please contact: E_Communications@state.gov. To learn more about the Americas Partnership, visit the main webpage: https://www.state.gov/americas-partnership-for-economic-prosperity/, and follow along on social media using the hashtag: #AmericasPartnership.
Official news published at https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-delivering-on-the-promise-of-the-americas-partnership-by-unlocking-competitiveness-for-inclusive-prosperity/
originally published at Politics - JISIP NEWS