Energy costs for Central American economies are impeding national development, US PresidentBarack Obamasaid as US and Canadian leaders called for stronger ties in the regional energy sector to help with economic development in the Western Hemisphere.
“To the extent that we can create a single regional energy market, then the costs of production, of transmission, distribution of energy becomes cheaper for all the countries involved, and you get certain economies of scale,” Obama said.
For his part, Canadian Prime MinisterStephen Harper outlineda series of initiativesaimed at support extractive industries in the region, from a combined $20.5 million pledge for Peru to a four-year, $18.8 million commitment to help Colombia manage its natural resources effectively.
“Canada is actively working with its partners in the hemisphere to promote prosperity, democracy and security,” Harper said.
Regional dynamics were upended during the Summit of the Americas that concluded during the weekend in Panama City, Panama. Senior delegates from all 35 countries in the region took part in the summit billed as an opportunity to advance mutual interests in areas ranging from education to energy.
The region hosts some of the largest oil producers in the world, from Organization of Petroleum Countries (OPEC) major Venezuela to the US and Canada.
A March report from the World Bank said theimpact of low oil priceshas lifted economies in East and South Asia, but caused a significant deterioration in Latin America.
US-Cuba thaw
The US-Cuba rapprochement, spearheaded by Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro is striving to renew US-Cuba bilateral relations. Obama met for about an hour on April 11 with Castro. “The history between the United States and Cuba is obviously complicated,” Obama said, adding that most people in both countries now support the diplomatic thaw. “After 50 years of a policy that had not changed on the part of the United States, it was my belief that it was time to try something new,” he said. The two countries are busy negotiating details of re-opening embassies and restoring diplomatic ties.
Obama stressed that governments of the two countries will continue to have deep differences. But dealing with those differences face-to-face marks a “turning point,” he said, not only in US-Cuban relations, but for all of the Americas.
Energya priority on Obama Jamaica visit
Earlier last week, Obama became the first sitting president to visit Jamaica in more than 33 years. Speaking to the CARICOM summit at the University of the West Indies Regional Headquarters, Obama urged the region to work together to address the high cost of energy, with an audience of leaders from Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie, among others.
“This region has some of the highest energy costs in the world,” Obama said. “Caribbean countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and we have to act now.”
He pointed to the US-led Caribbean Energy Security Initiative as examples of already-existing cooperation on the issue. “This is an example oflarge countries and small countries having to work together, because without collective action, we’re not going to be able to address these challenges,” he said.
During talks with Caribbean leaders, Obama discussed new partnerships, including a potential fund to mobilise private investment in clean energy projects in the Caribbean. “I am confident that given the commitment of the Caribbean countries, and the US commitment, that this in an issue in which we can make great strides over the short term and even greater strides over the long term,” he said. “Expensive, often unreliable and carbon intensive energy is going to be one of the greatest barriers to development in the Caribbean.”
http://www.neurope.eu/article/new-diplomacy-forges-stronger-energy-ties-americas