Logistics integration for a more sustainable exploitation of natural resources in Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) show significant limitations in providing infrastructure and logistics services, which being reflected in high logistics costs and important negative externalities, elements that seriously affect future trade competitiveness and regional development. In spite of the recent progress in industrial structural change and economic development, the region to a significant level, still relies on the export of natural resources and related products with low value added and little technological investment. Until today the countries have focused on ways to extract and transport their natural resources as raw material without adding significant value to the products. The lack of national long term development strategies and policies with a regional perspective in combination with an absence of sustainability criteria have promoted inefficient and isolated transport infrastructures. Further, this logistics based only in the extraction and export of some commodities, minimizes the possibilities to develop new industry clusters and the creation of regional and sub regional value chains. This implies important challenges for industry competitiveness, limits capturing value-added and economic returns from these export products and the expected positive social impacts.