During this decade, Latin America's economic and trade relations with Asian countries have grown considerably, and this is reflected in the figures and the rise in the number of trade agreements included between countries of the two regions. However, these links still feature asymmetries that remain a challenge, particularly for Latin American countries.
In this context, this week the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will hold two seminars at its headquarters in Santiago, Chile, both opened by the Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena.
On Wednesday 21 August will take place the academic seminar Trade relations betweenLatin America and Asia-Pacific: challenges and opportunities, organized by the Latin America - Asia Pacific Observatory, a joint initiative of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and ECLAC.
The meeting, which will also be attended by Juan Carlos Elorza, Principal Executive of Public Policies at CAF, and Diego Fernández, Head of the LAIA Cooperation and Training Department, offers a forum for Asian and Latin American academics and experts to analyse the growing economic links between Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
The seminar will include discussions on biregional trade and investment relations from the viewpoint of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), as well as value chains, trade policy, regional integration and the perspectives of Korea and China on economic relations with Latin America.
The meeting will also present a series of academic studies selected from a public call for papers launched a few months ago. The subjects of the articles include the logics of integration in the Pacific region and China's trans-Pacific cooperation with some Latin American countries.
Furthermore, the seminar will include an academic forum for up-to-date monitoring of relations between Asia-Pacific and Latin America, including in-depth analysis of experiences and identification of best practices for integration.
On Thursday 22 August, the seminar Doing business with China: the Latin American experience, organized by the ECLAC International Trade and Integration Division in conjunction with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (ILAS-CASS) and the Institute of the Americas (IOA) will take place.
The aim of the meeting, which will be attended by Charles Shapiro, President of IOA, and Luis Enrique Berrizbeitía, Executive Vice-President of CAF, is to learn lessons from the experience of various Latin American business sector stakeholders in terms of trade and investment relations with China.
The seminar will open with a discussion of China's role in the economic development of Latin America, followed by analysis of the financing of new business links with the Asian country. There will also be a space for debate on national experiences of exporting to China, with the participation of authorities of binational chambers of commerce of several Latin American countries.
The media are invited to attend the seminars.
Press contact:
ECLAC Public Information and Web Services Section.
ECLAC headquarters: Av. Dag Hammarskjold 3477, Vitacura, Santiago.
E-mail: prensa@cepal.org, Telephone: 562 2210 2040.
