ECLAC and the European Commission, through the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and EUROSTAT, will present on November 10 in Seville the results of their joint work under the GIANT initiative, aimed at achieving full convergence of the input-output model between Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Since 2017, both institutions have been harmonizing the industries in their regional matrices, defining a common converter, and ensuring the consistency of macroeconomic aggregates, with a detailed focus on Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. This has enabled the verification of compatibility in macroeconomic aggregates and similarities in the structure of value added, gross production, and trade, laying the groundwork for a joint matrix that integrates economies from both regions, based on 2018 data.

The GIANT initiative, created under the OECD’s RG-TIVA framework, aims to establish a common global benchmark for national accounts, ensuring comparability and coherence in global input-output and trade-in-value-added tables. To achieve this, it maintains a shared data repository, promotes information exchange, and strengthens countries’ technical capacity through workshops, webinars, and training. The results of this collaborative effort provide countries and users with reliable tools for economic analysis and public policy design in trade, productive development, and structural analysis, fostering a more integrated approach to the global economy.