Intergenerational relations: creating a world for all ages so that no one is left behind

This paper, prepared jointly by the five regional commissions of the United Nations, explores the social and economic challenges and opportunities of demographic shifts towards multigenerational societies across the countries covered by the five regional commissions. It discusses the latest evidence on demographic trends and intergenerational relations, labour markets, social protection, care, living arrangements and digitalization across regions, and it provides recommendations to build societies for all ages. With a strong interdisciplinary and interregional focus, the paper addresses interg…

Comparative analysis of four advanced single windows in Asia: Hong Kong, China; Japan; Republic of Korea and Singapore

The establishment of a single window is a crucial step in the move towards paperless trade, generating significant savings in time and money for companies as well as the different public bodies involved in foreign trade. Under the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organization, which entered into force in 2017, all the Organization’s members committed to maintaining or establishing a single window. Asia is home to some of the world’s largest trading economies and to several of the most advanced single windows. This report analyses and compares the main functionalities of four: th…

CEPAL Review No. 143

Regional Digital Trade Integration Index 2.0: A Guide

This RDTII Guide, now in its second edition, serves as a handbook designed to assist policymakers and policy researchers in analysing digital trade regulations. The Guide complements RDTII version 2.0, a common framework developed in collaboration with the European University Institute and utilized by ESCAP, ECA and ECLAC for digital trade regulatory analysis. Users of this guide are recommended to use it in conjunction with the ESCAP-ECA-ECLAC Digital Trade Regulatory Review for Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, 2023 and 2024 versions. The guide provides essential explana…

Digital Trade Regulatory Review for Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. June 2024

As a preliminary step towards deepening understanding of the digital trade policy environment in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean regions, this report offers an overview of the digital trade policy landscape in the three regions. It presents aggregate findings based on the unified frameworks utilized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). This framework is known as the Region…

Reversing direction in the used clothing crisis: Global, European, and Chilean perspectives

Since 2012, the Alto Hospicio Municipality in the Chilean Atacama Desert has witnessed the fast growth of large illegal dumps of discarded clothing and textile products. Several tens of thousands of tonnes of textile waste cover around 300 hectares, some of which are burned on-site. Most clothes are made of synthetic fibres, and their incineration releases heavy metals, acid gases, particulates, and dioxins, harming the health of people nearby and damaging the local environment. Such dumps – also present in Ghana, Kenya, and Pakistan, among other countries – are symptoms of the problem of deve…

Trends in transport costs in international trade: analysis of imports into the United States from Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions and countries

This FAL Bulletin examines the key trends in transport costs for imports into the United States from the Caribbean, Latin America and other regions and countries. To do so, this Bulletin draws on the extensive database of the United States Bureau of the Census, using data for 2000–2021 to analyse costs by mode of transport: sea, air and land.…

Resilient growth, development and structural change in the Caribbean

Speed management in Latin America: the case of Argentina

This FAL Bulletin concerns one of the projects funded by the United Nations Road Safety Fund. In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 72/271, entitled “Improving global road safety”, which established the Fund, with a view to joining forces and consolidating action to achieve safe mobility targets. The project “Speed management in Latin America: the case of Argentina” was selected for implementation thanks to the Fund and aimed at strengthening technical capacity to implement public policies and strategies to change the perception of the public —in particular in the mun…

CEPAL Review No. 141. Special 75th anniversary issue: towards a more productive, inclusive and sustainable development model

The digital trade policy environment in Latin America and the Caribbean

This report presents significant findings from the Regional Digital Trade Integration Index (RDTII), highlighting similarities and differences among the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean. After introducing the Digital Trade Integration database and the methodology used in RDTII, the report outlines the main index scores by country and pillar. Jamaica, with the lowest score of 0.14, has the most open regulatory environment for digital trade in the region, whereas Cuba, with the highest score of 0.62, has a regulatory environment that is quite restrictive. The report also summarizes t…

Proposals to expand river connectivity in South America

This FAL Bulletin presents opportunities for physical river integration in South America that could mark an important step in the design of a sustainable river navigation system for the region. It also examines the opportunities that intermodal transport offers for regional logistics. This document is part of ECLAC analyses on infrastructure and connectivity. The study was carried out with the support of the regular programme of technical cooperation of ECLAC, in the framework of the activities of the United Nations Development Account project entitled “Transport and trade connectivity in the …

Port Report 2022–first quarter of 2023: The calm after the storm?

Shipping transports around 80% of global trade in goods by volume, and 70% by value (ECLAC, 2023). Global supply chains suffered unprecedented distortions, first as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, declared in March 2020, and then with the outbreak of the war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022. Maritime transport has clearly played a major role in international trade in recent decades, particularly since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The Infrastructure Services Unit of the Economic Commission for Latin America and th…

CEPAL Review No. 142

Trade facilitation in Latin America and the Caribbean: formalities, infrastructure and logistics

This issue of FAL Bulletin provides an overview of progress by the region’s countries in implementing their respective trade facilitation agendas and of the main challenges still to be met in this area.…

Report of the Twenty-First Meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee

Latin American and Caribbean ports and climate risk: impacts on their infrastructure and possible adaptation measures

This FAL Bulletin is part of the reflections of ECLAC on infrastructure and connectivity. This edition examines some adaptation options for port infrastructure in response to the challenges connected with climate change and resilience to natural disasters. The document outlines some of the main potential climate hazards, risk areas and economic impacts on the region’s logistics and port infrastructure. It puts forward a methodology for impact analysis and assessment, the application of which in Latin American and Caribbean countries could bring many benefits. As examples, two case studies are …

Digital transformation of SMEs for cross-border trade and e-commerce in the Republic of Korea: insights for Latin America and the Caribbean

The rapid evolution of digital technologies has reshaped global business, forcing not only large but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to embrace digital trade. Nevertheless, many SMEs are struggling to fully implement digital technologies. Against this backdrop, the Republic of Korea has bolstered its support for SMEs, with a focus on human capital development, financing, and research and development. Furthermore, the country has revised its trade regulations and frameworks, placing significant emphasis on digital capacity-building and the alignment of regulations with internatio…

Operational aspects of support programmes for the digital transformation of exporting small and medium-sized enterprises in the Republic of Korea

Because international trade is essential for the Republic of Korea’s economic growth and development, the government actively promotes exports by large companies and especially by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Several programmes support participation by SMEs in cross-border e-commerce, which may have contributed to their rapidly rising exports through this channel. This report reviews selected programmes implemented by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). To maximize the programmes’ impact, KOSME and KOTRA apply a circ…

Assessment of the economic costs of vehicle traffic congestion in the Caribbean: a case study of Trinidad and Tobago

Vehicle traffic congestion produces significant economic costs in most cities and metropolitan regions of the world. It is also a significant source of green house gas emissions as well as other air pollutants which in turn contribute to major health risks. Traffic congestion also generates additional impacts including stress, fatigue and depression among commuters, and is possibly linked to increased antisocial behaviour and diminished road safety. The problem has become a major challenge among Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS), especially in the context of the subregion’s growi…