Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    MEXICO CITY, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will face "a very hard year" in 2009, a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) official said Wednesday.

    "The main factors that will affect the economy in this region are the high prices of food and power, the financial crisis and the climate change," Rebeca Grynspan, the UNDP director for Latin America and the Caribbean, told a press conference during the "Latin America and the Millennium Development Goals" meeting.

    The factors, Grynspan said, will mainly damage tourism, consignment, manufacturing, direct foreign investment and exports in the region.

    Grynspan urged developed countries to maintain cooperation and aid with the emerging countries amidst the world economic crisis.

    The UNDP director also asked countries in the region "to reinforce the efforts for the millennium development goals, not only to reach them, but to avoid backwards."

    Grynspan suggested that the Latin American and Caribbean governments start or extend programs to avoid such social problems as unemployment, school truancy, and the malnutrition of children.