Saturday, September 10, 2005
Solving the Debt Crisis
World’s lawmakers back RP debt relief proposal
By Jess Diaz
The Philippine Star 09/11/2005
NEW YORK CITY — Speakers of parliaments from all over the world endorsed yesterday a Philippine proposal for an innovative global debt-for-equity conversion program that would free up trillions of dollars in debt service funds in about 100 poor countries for their development.
At the end of the three-day Summit of Speakers of Parliaments of the World at the United Nations here, the parliament heads made a declaration in which they vowed to push financial programs that would help impoverished countries attain the UN Millennium Development Goals of cutting poverty in half by 2015.
They also committed to fight international and homegrown terrorists.
Sen. Sergio Paez Verdugo, president of the International Parliamentary Union, told the world conference of Speakers that he would include the Philippine debt proposal in the agenda of the IPU executive council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland next month.
The endorsement of the Manila proposal came minutes after Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. addressed the conference, telling his colleagues that the grant of massive large-scale debt relief to poor countries was "an idea whose time has come."
He said under the Philippine proposal, rich nations and multilateral financing institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank would convert half of their debt receipts into equity in development projects in poor countries.
"We plead neither for debt forgiveness, debt cancellation, debt moratorium nor debt discounts. Our proposal requires no new monies from parliaments or governments of the rich countries. Nor do we envision any reduction or loss of face value in the creditors’ financial assets," he said.
De Venecia said the debt receipts would be plowed back as equity investments in such projects as irrigation, food production, housing, transportation, energy development, infrastructure and micro-finance.
He stressed that unless large sums of funds are made available to poor nations, these countries have no hope of accomplishing the UN Millennium Development Goals of cutting poverty in half in 10 years or even making a significant progress in attaining this objective.
De Venecia informed his listeners that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder, and Asian Development Bank president Harukiro Kuroda have already endorsed the Manila debt relief proposal.
Among the parliament heads listening to him on the last day of the conference was Speaker Pierre Ferdinando Casini of the Italian Parliament, who is a good friend of De Venecia and whose country is a huge creditor.
He said Annan, in endorsing the idea, told him that it could unlock funds for "sustainable development activities that are key to achieving the (UN) Millennium Development Goals."
He said Annan urged the Philippine government to "consider utilizing the forthcoming World Summit (next week) to bring to the attention of world leaders the proposal."
President Arroyo is attending the summit next Wednesday. She will preside over the UN Security Council, of which the Philippines is now the president. She is expected to push for the debt-for-equity proposal.
Next weekend, De Venecia is going to Washington D where he has been invited by the World Bank-International Money Fund to present his novel debt program.
By Jess Diaz
The Philippine Star 09/11/2005
NEW YORK CITY — Speakers of parliaments from all over the world endorsed yesterday a Philippine proposal for an innovative global debt-for-equity conversion program that would free up trillions of dollars in debt service funds in about 100 poor countries for their development.
At the end of the three-day Summit of Speakers of Parliaments of the World at the United Nations here, the parliament heads made a declaration in which they vowed to push financial programs that would help impoverished countries attain the UN Millennium Development Goals of cutting poverty in half by 2015.
They also committed to fight international and homegrown terrorists.
Sen. Sergio Paez Verdugo, president of the International Parliamentary Union, told the world conference of Speakers that he would include the Philippine debt proposal in the agenda of the IPU executive council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland next month.
The endorsement of the Manila proposal came minutes after Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. addressed the conference, telling his colleagues that the grant of massive large-scale debt relief to poor countries was "an idea whose time has come."
He said under the Philippine proposal, rich nations and multilateral financing institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank would convert half of their debt receipts into equity in development projects in poor countries.
"We plead neither for debt forgiveness, debt cancellation, debt moratorium nor debt discounts. Our proposal requires no new monies from parliaments or governments of the rich countries. Nor do we envision any reduction or loss of face value in the creditors’ financial assets," he said.
De Venecia said the debt receipts would be plowed back as equity investments in such projects as irrigation, food production, housing, transportation, energy development, infrastructure and micro-finance.
He stressed that unless large sums of funds are made available to poor nations, these countries have no hope of accomplishing the UN Millennium Development Goals of cutting poverty in half in 10 years or even making a significant progress in attaining this objective.
De Venecia informed his listeners that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder, and Asian Development Bank president Harukiro Kuroda have already endorsed the Manila debt relief proposal.
Among the parliament heads listening to him on the last day of the conference was Speaker Pierre Ferdinando Casini of the Italian Parliament, who is a good friend of De Venecia and whose country is a huge creditor.
He said Annan, in endorsing the idea, told him that it could unlock funds for "sustainable development activities that are key to achieving the (UN) Millennium Development Goals."
He said Annan urged the Philippine government to "consider utilizing the forthcoming World Summit (next week) to bring to the attention of world leaders the proposal."
President Arroyo is attending the summit next Wednesday. She will preside over the UN Security Council, of which the Philippines is now the president. She is expected to push for the debt-for-equity proposal.
Next weekend, De Venecia is going to Washington D where he has been invited by the World Bank-International Money Fund to present his novel debt program.
# posted by caret @ 11:09 AM 
