Good Morning, Madam Chair, Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is an honor for me to address this meeting of experts that has been convened to consider and propose a revised scale of quota assessments.

First of all let me thank all of you for being here today, particularly the experts coming from Capitals that made a special effort to participate in this meeting and share their knowledge and ideas with us. I’m sure it will be a very useful exercise.

I will be brief in my statement taking into consideration that the Secretary General will make a more extensive presentation after the lunch break this afternoon.

As the Chair of the Permanent Council just reminded us and as delegations may recall, the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs, under the excellent leadership of the Permanent Representative of Paraguay, Ambassador Maria Manuel Caceres, began the consideration of the issue on the scale of quota assessment in September of last year, through a working group under the capable leadership of Ambassador Joshua Sears, Permanent Representative of The Bahamas.

Many proposals, some of them very creative and aiming at reaching maximum consensus, were put forward; however, there was no unanimous support for any of the alternatives. The Committee did not reach a consensus on this matter, reason for which the Council decided to convene an experts meeting with the mandate to propose a revised scale of quota assessments.

This is not the only issue that needs urgent attention. The Member States are also faced with another important matter, which is the raising of the ceiling of the budget.

The reality is that the Organization’s budget has been frozen for a long time, in a situation of increasing mandates. You will appreciate the difficulties the new administration of your Organization is facing in effectively implementing these mandates in the interest of its membership.

At the same time, the new leadership has embarked on a functional restructuring of the Organization, as well as started a process of efficiency and strict compliance with rules and regulations. We believe that these elements provide a certain momentum and sense or urgency to the debate on the revised scale of assessments and the need to increase the budget.

At the upcoming Special General Assembly, that the Permanent Council will be convening for January 30th and 31st, member states will have to take a decision on both of these issues.

This experts meeting will hopefully help us reach an agreement on a revised scale of quotas and hopefully lead us into a very productive political discussion at the General Assembly.

I am certain that with the political will of all member states the OAS can agree on their own scale of quota assessments.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I end these brief remarks by urging the member states to approach these issues with an open mind and to focus on the importance of the outcome of this exercise for the future of the OAS, your Organization. Your work over the coming two days is of critical importance to the future outlook of the OAS and will require constructive engagement in a debate which is clearly not only limited to technical aspects.

Let me reaffirm the readiness of the General Secretariat team of experts, headed by the Assistant Secretary for Finance and Administration, Ambassador Frank Almaguer, to be at your service and think along with you in finding an acceptable and lasting outcome.

I thank you for your attention.