In 2013 the UK holds the Presidency of the G8 (the group of 8, the governments of 8 of the world’s largest economies).
Even though Guatemala and Honduras do not form part of the G8 the themes of the UK’s Presidency are very relevant here.
We want to drive global prosperity by promoting open economies, open governments, and open societies. Our priorities could be called the 3 Ts: trade, tax, and transparency.
In advance of the Summit in Northern Ireland in June and throughout 2013, we will be working to share these ideas with the Honduran and Guatemalan governments, as they have global resonance and applicability.
To give you a flavour of how the 3 Ts might be relevant here and where we hope to cooperate, I would highlight the following:
- Trade deals are opportunities for global growth, and we want to see the EU Association Agreement up and running between us
- We will promote international standards on tax transparency, and information sharing to tackle abuses of the tax system, so that Governments can collect the taxes due to them. Central American tax collection rates are considerably lower than the UK’s and I often hear this talked about as a development issue
- We will be encouraging transparency, accountability and open government, including in the extractives industries, in order to tackle the corruption that holds back development and growth. One example of this is the support the Embassy is giving to delegates from Guatemala and Honduras to attend next week in Panama a forum on preventing financial crime; and through promotion of the UK Bribery Act.
The web-site for the G8 is now live at www.gov.uk/G8. And the official twitter account for our G8 Presidency is @G8. We look forward to hearing your views.