The Regional Action Plan for the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean (RAP) seeks to be the regional expression of the New Urban Agenda (NUA). It promotes evidence-based policy making, setting out potential actions and interventions as well as relevant and priority policy guidance for all Latin American and Caribbean countries towards the achievement of sustainable urban development. The RAP supports a shift towards a new urban paradigm that recognizes the city as a macro-level public good, where the economic, social, cultural and environmental rights of al…
El Plan de Acción Regional para la Implementación de la Nueva Agenda Urbana en América Latina y el Caribe (PAR) pretende ser la expresión regional de la Nueva Agenda Urbana (NAU). El PAR promueve la elaboración de políticas basadas en evidencia de las dinámicas de la urbanización, y establece recomendaciones de acciones e intervenciones potenciales, así como también orientación política relevante y prioritaria para todos los países en América Latina y el Caribe para el logro del desarrollo urbano sostenible. Asimismo, el PAR fomenta un cambio hacia un nuevo paradigma urbano que reconoce la ciu…
This study focuses on the identification of the challenges and capacity constraints faced by enterprises in the sub-region in exploiting trade opportunities provided by Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Partial Scope Agreements (PSAs). It concentrates on the goods sector and case studies for Belize, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, and seeks to develop a strategic framework aimed at addressing these challenges and constraints, thereby creating a platform for economic diversification and export expansion. It explores the recent trade performance of the countries in question under selected trad…
This study examines the impact of de-risking on the study countries—bank and non-bank sectors. The study approach is based on survey instruments, consultations and analysis of secondary data. The impacts that have been observed, to date, have generally been discounted in most analysis as “anecdotal” and not valid for “reliable inference”1. However, in small economies such as those in this study what is anecdotal may be indeed reasonable for inference. The typically small number of banks as well as their dominance in the financial sectors of these small states suggests that reduced banking serv…
This study is intended to be exploratory in nature. It seeks a better understanding of i) how the OMU cluster emerged; ii) the characteristics of the offshore medical universities in the Caribbean cluster; iii) the contribution of the offshore medical universities to the economy of the host Caribbean countries; and iv) the prospects for enhancing the educational quality, and value added captured by the Caribbean in the medical value chain.…
This paper examines the genesis and evolution of debt and debt overhang in the Caribbean with individual case studies, to extract lessons and make broad recommendations with regard to appropriate mechanisms and policy measures that can be implemented to reduce the debt burden of the subregion. The econometric model utilized in the paper has shown that a one percent increase on debt to GDP ratio causes a 0.015decline in real GDP growth for the countries in the Caribbean panel, suggesting that debt has a pernicious effect on growth on Caribbean economies. What is even more worrisome was that Car…
Este informe examina se e como os bancos públicos de países selecionados da América Latina promovem a inclusão financeira para a inserção produtiva de empresas de menor porte. O foco da análise é se estas instituições inovaram no sentido de implementar instrumentos financeiros —financiamento, fundos de garantia e assistência técnica— adequados ao perfil da demanda preponderante entre as empresas de menor porte: capacitação empresarial em desenvolvimento e relacionada a atividades econômicas de baixa complexidade e alta sensibilidade ao ciclo econômico. O informe demonstra que: i) os bancos púb…
Although the growth performance has been mixed in the Caribbean year, on averaged the economies posted an economic growth of 0.7 per cent in 2016. The goods producers achieved -3.1 per cent growth, due to weak commodity prices. While the service producers achieved 2.1 growth. Despite the anemic growth performance, the region managed to decrease its unemployment rate to 11.2 per cent in 2016, relative to the 15.2 per cent experienced in the previous year.…
La gran mayoría de las principales estadísticas económicas de Cuba tienen una periodicidad anual y se publican con un rezago de varios meses e, inclusive, de años. Por ello, nos parece importante contar con un indicador más oportuno (trimestral) de la actividad económica de Cuba, que sirva de herramienta para enriquecer y hacer más preciso el análisis macroeconómico del país caribeño. Este documento analiza en detalle eta temática . En la primera sección se describe el procedimiento para construir un «indicador de la economía exterior de Cuba (IEE)», con una frecuencia trimestral. En la segund…
Experts across the region agree that there is significant potential for strengthening the economic contribution of the music and film industries in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. However, this can only be fully realized by learning from industry success factors and, more importantly, by addressing existing constraints. These findings emerged from a newly published study from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on “The Film and Music Sectors in Jamaica: Lessons from Case Studies of Successful Firms/Ventures”. Success factors in the Caribbean’s m…
A regional study analyzing the state of financial inclusion of SMEs in seven Latin American countries, and the role of development banks in improving it through innovative practices and focused financial instruments, has been elaborated as part of the similarly titled project headed by the Financing for Development Unit at ECLAC. As of date, the regional report has been published in both Spanish and its original language, Portuguese. It brings together the main findings from the seven country cases studies—Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru—and supplements them …
El estudio regional que analiza el estado de la inclusión financiera de las PyMEs en siete países de América Latina, y el papel de la banca de desarrollo para mejorarlo a través de prácticas innovadoras e instrumentos financieros específicos, se ha elaborado como parte del proyecto asociado (con título similar) a cargo de la Unidad de Financiamiento para el Desarrollo en la CEPAL. Hasta la fecha, el informe regional se ha publicado en español y en su idioma original, portugués. El informe reúne los principales hallazgos de los siete estudios nacionales—Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, …
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