JAMAICA: PM GOLDING G20 LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

UNCLAS KINGSTON 000502 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT PASS TO EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE STATE FOR WHA/CAR (DHOFFMANN) (VDEPIRRO) (WSMITH) WHA/EPSC (MROONEY)(FCORNEILLE) INR/RES (RWARNER) SANTO DOMINGO FOR FCS AND FAS TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPDC PREL PGOV ECIN EFIN SOCI TRSY OAS IBRD XL JM SUBJECT: JAMAICA: PM GOLDING G20 LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA REF: KINGSTON 422 08 KINGSTON 341 08 KINGSTON 343 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On June 23 Post received a dipnote from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade with a copy of a letter from Prime Minister Bruce Golding addressed to President Barack Obama relating to the G20 Summit in September. The original was sent to the White House through the Jamaican Embassy in Washington. End Summary. Begin Text -------------- Dear Mr. President I write in my capacity not only as Prime Minister of Jamaica, but also as Chairman of the External Trade Negotiations Committee of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The CARICOM region, which is comprised largely of small, vulnerable, highly indebted middle income countries, has been severely affected by the financial and economic crisis with little capacity to respond. We have noted with keen interest the international response to the crisis, including the deliberations of the leaders of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies. The global nature of the crisis, however, demands that we broaden the discourse to also hear the perspectives of developing countries not yet classified as emerging economies. In this context, I am requesting that special consideration be given to inviting representation from this group to the G20 Summit that you will host next September in Pittsburgh. I look forward to your favourable response and avail myself of this opportunity to renew the assurances of my highest esteem. Yours Sincerely, Bruce Golding Prime Minister END TEXT -------------- ¶2. (SBU) COMMENT: The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) has been using the term ?highly-indebted middle income country? to describe itself over the past 18 months. The phrase has been frequently used by Audley Shaw, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, in his discussions with the Inter-American Development and the World Bank. Shaw has been advocating for the creation of a new category of debt assistance for highly- indebted middle income countries (reftels B and C). The Cabinet initiated internal discussions on June 23 regarding the possibility of the GOJ resuming borrowing relations with the IMF. Shaw will present his findings to Cabinet on recent exploratory discussions with the IMF and discuss available options if the GOJ decides to return to the IMF (reftel A). Shaw is expected to travel to Washington next week to meet with officials of the IMF. End Comment. MOSS