Mens udviklingsminister Søren Pind (V) vil afvikle den danske udviklingsbistand til Latinamerika, ser man betydeligt anderledes på kontinentets betydning i Tysklands borgerlige regeringskoalition.
Germany unveiled a new approach to Latin America on Wednesday, taking account of the region’s growing economic and political clout.
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle described Latin America as a continent that was ‘still very underestimated,’ both politically and economically.
Government ministers agreed to the new strategy spearheaded by Westerwelle, in the first cabinet session to be chaired by him, during Chancellor Angela Merkel’s summer holiday.
Long dismissed as a region of develop-ment aid recipients with little influence on pressing issues on the world stage, Latin America now deserves more focused attention, Westerwelle said.
– The whole South American continent is taking off – it is a singular success story despite the setbacks and difficulties and we should be smart enough to take part, he said.
The German foreign ministry developed the new plan for Latin America, a market with more than 500 million consumers, as well as the Caribbean in coordination with other government ministries.
It entails a three-pronged approach including strategies to boost trade, harness the diplomatic influence of global players such as Brazil and assume more joint responsibility for international problems.
Economically, the region’s rapid development has created massive demand for infrastructure and renewable energy sources and Berlin sees strong interest in “German quality, German technology and German investment” in these areas.
Berlin wants to help German companies seek out opportunities in the region, encourage more cooperation in research and development and in fighting climate change, and offer German expertise in police work to fight the drug trade.
Meanwhile, Moody’s Investors Service said, that Latin America, already this year’s world leader in credit-ratings upgrades, could see more improvements to its credit rankings over the remainder of 2010.
The conclusion comes in a set of new reports highlighting increasingly stronger economic growth in the region and prudent debt management.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
