ECLAC and the Republic of Korea Promote Economic Cooperation between Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean

(4 November 2011) During the Seminar on Economic Cooperation between Korea and Latin America and the Caribbean, directors and chiefs of six divisions and sections of ECLAC, and authorities of the Government of Korea, academics and researchers, highlighted the importance of encouraging cooperation between Korea, Asia Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.

During the meeting, which was held in Seoul, Korea, on 3 and 4 November, the experts highlighted the potential areas for cooperation, in particular, macroeconomics and the fiscal covenant, middle income, structural change, innovation, industrial policy, sustainable development, climate change and green technology, trade and investment, and infrastructure.

The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea (MOFAT), the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), the Latin American Centre for Natural Resources and Energy of MOFAT and ECLAC.

In a message sent by video to the participants, the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, highlighted the importance which the institution places on cooperation with Korea and the nations of Asia Pacific in general. "The new scenario in the global economy, marked by the increasing role of emerging countries, is propitious for the deepening of South-South cooperation linkages between Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia-Pacific," she stated.

The representatives of ECLAC included Osvaldo Rosales, Director of the Division of International Trade and Integration; Joseluis Samaniego, Director of the Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division; Jürgen Weller, Officer-in-Charge of the Economic Development Division; Daniel Titelman, Chief of the Development Studies Section; Wilson Peres, Chief of the Innovation and New Technology Unit of the Division of Production, Productivity and Management; and Ricardo Sánchez, Chief of the Infrastructure Services Unit of the Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division.

The seminars were organized around four thematic sessions in which issues were dealt with, such as changing development paradigms in Latin America and the Caribbean, cooperation for development assistance and green growth, and strengthening future links between the region and Asia.

During the sessions special importance was placed on the analysis of Korean development experiences and how this country developed from a poor nation based on agriculture to a highly sophisticated industrial economy in only three decades.

They also highlighted how some of the features of this experience could be applied in Latin America and the Caribbean, despite the significant diversity of their economies.

During their presentations, the experts from ECLAC also pointed out that the growth observed over the last years in Latin America and the Caribbean has made the region more  attractive as an exports and investments market and it has enabled it to become the second driver of world growth following the international crisis, after Asia Pacific.

Any queries should be addressed to the ECLAC Public Information and Web Services Section. E-mail: dpisantiago@cepal.org; Telephone: (56 2) 210 2040.

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