COLOMBIA: INVITATION TO THE PRESIDENT FOR IDB

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000446 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/AND; TREASURY FOR ARUSHING E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL OVIP OTRA PGOV ECON EAID EFIN IDB CO SUBJECT: COLOMBIA: INVITATION TO THE PRESIDENT FOR IDB MEMBERS' HEADS OF STATE SUMMIT MARCH 31, 2009 REF: BOGOTA 418 ¶1. On February 10, Post received a copy of an invitation from President Alvaro Uribe to President Obama to attend the closing event of the 50th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Heads of State and Government Summit in Medellin on March 31, ¶2009. Claudia Jimenez, Senior Economic Advisor to President Uribe, told EconCouns that the official invitation would be delivered in Washington through the Colombian Embassy. Paragraph 3 includes an informal translation of the invitation. The Summit invitation to President Obama follows reftel invite from the Colombian Government to Treasury Secretary Geithner to attend the opening of the IDB meeting and subsequent discussions March 27-31. ¶2. Post transmitted copies of the presidential invitation and informal translation by unclassified email February 11 to the State Department Colombia Desk, EEB/IFD/OMA and WHA/EPSC, as well as the Treasury IDB Desk. Post is in contact with Treasury regarding arrangements for U.S. delegation attendance to the March 27-31, 2009 IDB meetings. ¶3. BEGIN INFORMAL TRANSLATION. His Excellency Barack H. Obama President of the United States of America Washington, D.C. Excellency, I have the honor to write Your Excellency to inform you that Colombia will host the 50th Governors Assembly of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB),to be held in Medellin, Colombia, on March 27-31, 2009. It is a matter of great pride for the people of Colombia to be the host of the Summit, which will celebrate fifty years of the work of this most important regional development finance institution. The meeting will undertake a detailed examination of the undoubted impact that it has had on regional progress and there will be discussions of ideas for its future. The times we face today in the context of the global economy suggest that this meeting will affect paramount importance well beyond that of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary. As we look forward to the future, we are aware that we cannot afford to allow the social and economic achievements of the last five years to be wasted as a result of the global recession. It is essential that institutions such as the IDB enjoy the unrestricted support of Member Countries to meet the demand for its products in every corner of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is also equally important to support this multilateral institution in its immediate challenge to restore inter-American financial dynamics. In this context, I take pleasure in inviting Your Excellency to take part in the Closing Session of the 2009 Assembly on March 31, 2009, at the Plaza Mayor Convention Center, in Medellin. This Summit of Heads of State and Government of IDB Member Countries is a privileged opportunity to unite in solidarity and to exchange opinions and ideas on the future of the IDB in the context of the current recession and over the next few years. Your Excellency,s presence at the meeting will be of great historic value and will enable our peoples to send out a signal of the importance that the Bank has had and will have throughout this continent. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration. END INFORMAL TRANSLATION. BROWNFIELD