The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, made an official visit to Uruguay on March 4-5 to hold meetings with senior government authorities and approve cooperation initiatives between the United Nations regional organization and the South American country.

The high-level United Nations official met with Uruguayan Foreign Affairs Minister Mario Lubetkin, the Industry, Energy and Mining Minister Fernanda Cardona, and the Planning and Budget Office Director, Rodrigo Arim. He led a delegation that included ECLAC’s Secretary of the Commission, Luis Fidel Yáñez; the Chief of Staff of the Executive Secretariat, Raquel Chanto; the Director of the Production, Productivity and Management Division, Marco Llinás; and the Director of ECLAC’s Office in Uruguay, Raquel Artecona.

With Minister Fernanda Cardona, he addressed the agenda for joint work, focused on Uruguay’s productive transformation to overcome the trap of low capacity for growth in which the majority of Latin American and Caribbean countries are caught.

Also during this visit, he held meetings with Economic Affairs and Political Affairs teams at the Foreign Ministry and with authorities from the Economy and Finance Ministry, including Isabella Antonaccio, the National Director for Investment Incentives at that Ministry, with whom he spoke about various strategies for attracting investment and accelerating growth in the country.

At these gatherings, ECLAC expressed its solid support for the various presidencies that Uruguay will hold in 2026 in the international arena, including that of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

In addition, the Executive Secretary signed a cooperation agreement between ECLAC and the Planning and Budget Office of the Government of Uruguay, represented by Director Rodrigo Arim. Through this agreement, both parties renewed their joint work agenda and proposed a program of activities for strengthening the development planning capacities of both the Office’s technical team and of other relevant public agencies.

Based on this agreement, and at the request of the Planning and Budget Office, ECLAC will support the process for preparing Uruguay’s National Development Strategy along the axes of competitiveness, productivity and sustainability. On this occasion, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs emphasized that this assistance is part of the work that ECLAC does to help countries escape the trap of low institutional capacities and ineffective governance.

During his visit, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary also met with Manuel Albaladejo, Representative of the Regional Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Uruguay, as well as with the group of Directors of the UN agencies, funds and programs that are present in the country (UNCT).