MaltaMedia.com

A parliamentary delegation led by the Hon. David Agius, MP and comprising of the Hon. Chris Agius MP, Hon. Franco Debono and Hon. Roderick Galdes will be attending the 40th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference of the British Islands and Mediterranean Region.

The Conference, which will be held in Guernsey between the 15th and 19th June 2009, will bring together delegates from Alderney, Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, Scotland, England and Wales.

The 40th Conference of the British Islands and Mediterranean Region will be officially opened by H.E. the Lieutenant Governor for the Bailiwick of Guernsey Sir Fabian Malbon. The Hon. David Agius will be chairing the workshop entitled “The Impact of the Crisis on Developing Countries and the Repercussions for the West”.

The main theme of the Conference is The International Economic Downturn, its Impacts and the Responsibilities of Parliamentarians. The goal of the Conference is to issue a toolkit for parliamentarians to scrutinise their governments’ response on a national and global scale. Its objective is to pool expertise on the subject to facilitate an effective parliamentary response to the crisis.

The aims of the programme are:

• To provide a general understanding of the characteristics of the global financial system, the reasons for its collapse and the impact of the crisis on the global economy;
• To scrutinise the effectiveness of national responses – Long vs. short term strategies of crisis management, e.g. cutting tax and benefit schemes and sustainable investment in public infrastructure and renewable energy;
• To propose ideas how to tackle a joint global effort – How to restructure the financial system, make it more transparent and re-establish public trust;
• To emphasise the importance of global trade in the face of a growing threat to national protectionism; and
• To stress the impact of the crisis on the developing world with special relevance to the role of the West.

The Maltese delegation will also be raising the issue of the phenomenon of illegal immigration in the context of the current economic downturn during the Annual General Meeting of the British Islands and Mediterranean Region which will be held on Monday 15th June with the intention of having a Communiquè agreed upon by the region and subsequently issued by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.