Latin America's experience in dispute settlement within WTO: the cases of technical standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and intellectual property

Latin America and the Caribbean is among the fastest growing markets in the world and an important trading partner for many countries. The positive byproducts of this trend include deeper integration and strengthened economic and diplomatic relations with trading partners around the world. However, as trade continues to grow, disputes will naturally arise between nations with respect to a wide range of trade barriers. Often these disputes are addressed within the framework of the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement System. This document describes the experience of the region in the W…

Inflation and the variability of relative prices in the Caribbean: evidence from panel threshold models

This paper examines the impact of inflation and its variability for eight Caribbean countries; Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The paper goes beyond the standard approach to examine the variability of relative prices (VRP) within the context of a threshold effects framework, since it was recognized that whether inflation was low or very high was significant in determining its impact on an economy. The paper employed a panel threshold effects model to capture the non-linear nature of the relationship…

Availability, collection and use of data on disability in the Caribbean subregion

This paper addresses the issue of the availability of data on persons with disabilities in the Caribbean subregion. It was prepared as a background paper for the Subregional Meeting and Capacity-Development Training Workshop on Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Caribbean which was held in Port of Spain from 9 - 10 November 2010. It presents the findings of a survey conducted by ECLAC aimed at gaining insight on current practices of national statistical offices and other data collecting agencies with respect to the collection of natio…

Report on the coordination of international statistical activities in the area of the environment

This report presents the results of a regional study conducted by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico, in their respective roles as technical secretariat and coordinator, of the Working Group on Environmental Statistics of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC. The objective was to carry out an in- depth study of the international statistical activities in the area of environmental statistics, with a view to strengthening coordination of those activities and optimizing their contribu…

ICT in Latin America: a microdata analysis

This book is the final report of the ECLAC-IDRC project Observatory for the Information Society in Latin American and the Caribbean OSILAC, which aims at understanding the dynamics of the ICT evolution and revolution and producing evidence on its potential to promote socio-economic development. As such, microdata analysis drawn from National Household Surveys and National Innovation Surveys in Latin America were used in the framework of the project in the attempt to reach those objectives. Both statistical information sources provide attractive potentialities in order to investigate not only d…

Caribbean Millennium Development Goals Report 2010

The eight Millennium Development Goals - which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV and AIDS and providing universal primary education by 2015 - form a blueprint for tackling critical issues facing developing countries: poverty, hunger, inadequate education, gender inequality, child and maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, and environmental degradation. The Caribbean Millennium Development Goals Report 2010 reviews progress in the Caribbean subregion towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals on the basis of the most recent data available from official coun…

Economic Survey of the Caribbean 2010-2011: improving economic prospects amid global recovery

This survey provides an overview of the economic performance of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, together with the eight member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) countries for 2010 and their outlook for 2011. The first section is a summary of the main issues raised in the report including an assessment of the economic prospects for 2011. Chapter II analyses the impact of the global economy on the subregion then provides a comparative analysis of the GDP and sectoral growth performance. This is followed by the subsection on…

The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement: a Latin American perspective

In March 2010, negotiations aimed at enlarging the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) were launched. Nine countries from Asia, Oceania and the Americas currently participate in them. The United States, which in practice has assumed a leading role, has stated that this process has the ultimate goal of transforming the TPP in a platform for large-scale trans-Pacific economic integration. It has also expressed that the enlarged TPP should be a high-quality, 21st century agreement. For the current two Latin American participants (Chile and Peru), as well as for…

Major statistical publications- abstracts. Vol XI

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean/secretariat for the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) takes pleasure in presenting the tenth volume of the Major Statistical Publications – Abstracts. This publication is a one stop for information on all statistical publications currently produced and/or in circulation by all ECLAC/CDCC member countries.…

Ban Ki-moon Calls for a Further Strengthening of Democracy and Equality in Andean Countries

(16 February 2011) During a two days visit to Ecuador and Peru, which concluded yesterday night, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, called on both South American countries to further strengthen their democratic institutions and extend the benefits of development to the most disadvantaged populations, including indigenous peoples. Officials accompanying Ban Ki-moon included the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernández-Taranco, as well as other senior UN representatives. In Quito, the UN Se…

The United States and Latin America and the Caribbean: highlights of economy and trade

This publication is a contribution by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to the analysis of trade and investment relations between the United States of America and Latin America and the Caribbean, on the occasion of the visit of President Barack Obama to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador in March 2011. The early years of this new decade have brought good news for Latin America and the Caribbean. The region weathered the international crisis with unprecedented resilience and emerged from it sooner and more strongly than the developed economies. It grew by 6%…

The United States and Latin America and the Caribbean: highlights of economy and trade

Esta publicación es una contribución de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL); al análisis de las relaciones comerciales y de inversiones entre los Estados Unidos y América Latina y el Caribe, con motivo de la visita del Presidente Barack Obama al Brasil, Chile y El Salvador en marzo de 2011. Los primeros años de esta nueva década han sido portadores de buenas noticias para América Latina y el Caribe. La región ha demostrado una capacidad de recuperación sin precedentes frente a la crisis internacional, de la que ha salido antes y con más pujanza que las economías des…

Progress report on the implementation of the biennial programme of regional and international cooperation activities of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2009-2011

The European Investment Bank and SMEs: key lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper discusses the engagement of the European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) with the financing and support of SMEs, both within the European Union (EU) as well as EU Candidate Countries and the Balkans. Indeed, lending and providing financial support to SMEs is one of the key core objectives of the EIB Group. The main focus of the paper is to describe and analyse the practises and experiences of the EIB Group in this field, to discuss the key lessons and to make policy recommendations to be considered within the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) context. The large role played by the …

The liberalization of environmental goods and services: overview and implications for Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper focuses primarily on proposals to liberalize trade of Environmental Goods, characterizing the trade of these products in Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective is to help identify trends, risks and opportunities for exporters as well as for importers, in a context of increased global competition in manufactured products from Asia and China in particular. For Latin America and the Caribbean, implementing policies aimed at both lowering trade barriers to environmental goods and services and greening the region's export basket will result in gains both for the …

Productivity growth in Latin American manufacturing: what role for international trade intensities?

This paper analyzes the relationship between the intensity of international trade flows and labor productivity for 28 industries in the five main economies in the region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico) using the Arellano-Bond generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator. The results show that international trade flows contributed through various channels to labor productivity growth in the period 1990 to 2008. These channels, which have been developed in the theoretical literature, are export intensity (share of production exported), import penetration (share of domestic deman…

Energy efficiency potential in Jamaica: challenges, opportunities and strategies for implementation

The Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) identifies energy management as a critical issue in achieving sustainability. Like many of the small islands states, Jamaica is economically vulnerable to external factors such as fluctuations in energy prices, a consequence of an over dependence on imported oil. Securing supplies of affordable and reliable energy is an essential element of economic and social development. In Jamaica however, energy systems and energy use are inefficient and expensive and add to national economic vulnerability.Jamaica is endowed …

Why is the Debate on Commodities so Crucial for Latin America?

Proposal for a code of good practice in statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean and implementation plan for 2012-2013

La producción de estadísticas oficiales es una actividad que demanda responsabilidad y compromiso por parte de los organismos encargados; de esta forma, la credibilidad en las estadísticas y, por ende, en las oficinas nacionales de estadística y demás miembros del sistema estadístico nacional se convierte en un activo fundamental, en la medida en que permite el diseño, la formulación, el seguimiento y la evaluación de planes y programas gubernamentales.Dicha credibilidad es un valor que se afianza con el tiempo, mediante la generación de estadísticas de calidad que cumplen con es…

Visita del Presidente de la República de Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón