These agendas should be centered on driving sectors, multilevel and multi-stakeholder coordination, and the promotion of productive articulation initiatives, according to the authorities and experts gathered at the Session for Productive Development Ministers of Argentina, which was held at ECLAC.

Countries and territories must scale up and improve their productive development policies by working on strategic agendas around driving sectors, multilevel and multi-stakeholder collaborative efforts, and the promotion of cluster and other productive articulation initiatives, according to the authorities and experts gathered at the Session for Productive Development Ministers of Argentina, which took place on November 17-18 at the main headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.

This event – organized by ECLAC and Argentina’s Federal Investment Council (CFI), with support from German cooperation – is part of the technical cooperation partnership between these two organizations and seeks to promote peer exchanges to analyze the role of productive development policies at a subnational level, as well as financial policies aimed at territories. The Session was held in the framework of the Network of Subnational Governments for Productive Development (REDEPRO), promoted by ECLAC, which enables peers from Argentina and other countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean to exchange experiences.

The session was inaugurated by José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary; Ignacio Lamothe, Secretary-General of CFI; Barbara Scholz, Representative of the BMZ/GIZ–ECLAC Regional Cooperation Program; René Orellana Halkyer, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Paola Pabón, Prefect of Pichincha province (Ecuador) and President  of the Network of Subnational Governments for Productive Development (REDEPRO); and Jorge Faurie, the Argentine Republic’s Ambassador to Chile.

“At ECLAC we have the conviction that a large share of productive development occurs at the local and subnational level. In our region, there are approximately 400 intermediate-level subnational territories, of which 270 have governments elected by the people. These territories, in turn, have 17,000 divisions with local governments of various sizes and decision-making powers and which are notably heterogeneous in terms of their production structure and productivity,” José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs affirmed in his opening speech.

He added that the regional organization is calling for profound productive development agendas to be developed, from within territories and throughout the continent, based on the recognition of their differences and potentialities, with the aim of driving more sustainable and inclusive growth. He indicated that these agendas must be forged in articulation with national productive development policies, in the framework of a scheme for multilevel coordination and governance. 

The Executive Secretary noted that ECLAC has identified three major traps that hinder Latin America and the Caribbean’s development: one of low capacity for growth; another of high inequality, low social mobility and weak social cohesion; and a third trap of low institutional capacity and weak governance. “These three traps represent serious obstacles to moving towards a more productive, inclusive and sustainable future,” he contended.

“At ECLAC we are convinced that the main toolbox for escaping the trap of low capacity for growth and transformation lies in productive development policies, and particularly in promoting them in a more ambitious way from within territories. Of course, this also requires mobilizing financial resources effectively,” José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs stated. He added that Latin America and the Caribbean is facing a stark juncture: “Either we initiate a new era of high, sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, or we head for a third lost decade.”

Ignacio Lamothe, Secretary-General of CFI, affirmed that “Argentina has enormous productive diversity. There are territories with very different capacities and very specific needs. That is why coming up with a development agenda together is a major challenge, but is also essential. And we believe that this is the way to do it: with decisions made at a shared table, exchanging assessments and learning from other experiences in the region. Sessions like this one allow us to look at experiences from other countries with similar challenges and to devise innovative solutions.”

Barbara Scholz, Representative of the BMZ/GIZ–ECLAC Regional Cooperation Program, stressed that “through our partnership with ECLAC, and spaces for exchange like this one, we contribute to enriching the debate about how to promote the creation of local value through regional supply chains and responsible investments, thereby supporting the fulfillment of national, regional and international development agendas.”

Meanwhile, René Orellana Halkyer, FAO’s Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, emphasized that “sharing science, technology and knowledge constitutes a critical foundation for productive development processes, especially in a context marked by the dizzying advance of artificial intelligence, which necessitates accelerated digitalization processes in rural areas and in the productive systems of value chains.”

Ambassador Jorge Faurie, meanwhile, stressed the relevance of this kind of gathering to obtain in-depth knowledge about subnational demands in Argentina and to analyze opportunities for cooperation and collaboration with entities from neighboring countries – for example, through the strengthening of infrastructure and logistics between Argentina and Chile.

Finally, in a video message, the Prefect of Pichincha province in Ecuador, Paola Pabón, affirmed that “a common will brings us together: putting territories at the center of productive development.” She stressed that this conviction is shared by the region’s subnational governments and underscored that development is not possible without the living force of territories, from within provinces, regions, departments and municipalities.

The Session for Productive Development Ministers of Argentina featured seven work segments addressing the global and regional panorama for productive policies and opportunities for Argentina and other countries in the region, a federal road map for productive development promoted by CFI, and the key role of regional development banks in financing production, among other topics. At the event, participants also analyzed the issues contained in the study Territorial Asymmetries and Inequalities in Argentina: Deepening the Analysis of the Main Challenges, produced by ECLAC’s Office in Argentina.