The Contonou Agreement: Selected issues, effects and implications for Caribbean economies

Conditions for maximizing the gains from a Western Hemisphere free trade agreement

Chinese Investments in Latin America: Opportunities for growth and diversification

China has become the third largest source of FDI in the world, only behind the United States and Japan. Chinese outward FDI continues to grow every year, but inflows into Latin America have remained stagnant since the year 2010 when a large wave of acquisitions introduced many Chinese companies to the region. They also remain very concentrated on the extraction of natural resources and in a handful of countries. Slower growth in China, and lower commodity prices may force some Chinese companies to change their strategy and start looking for overseas markets in new sectors, particularly in serv…

The Geography of Brazilian External Trade: Right Option for a BRIC?

Words can make a difference sometimes.Brazil is – together with the other ´BRIC´- a large economy, with an increasingly high profile in the international scenario. Large domestic market makes it more likely to obtain ‘growth-led exports’ rather than ‘export-led growth’, which implies a pro-active role in international relations. The option for intensifying regional trade links is a reasonable one and perhaps even inevitable, taking into account the experience elsewhere, but the actual regional conditions raise a number of questions that have to do both with further empirical assessment and to …

Opportunities and challenges for MSMEs in Caribbean cross-border e-commerce

THE GOAL OF THE COURSE Training policymakers in good practices to improve thecapacities of MSMEs to participate in cross-border e-commerce. SPECIFIC GOALS To learn about recent developments and trends indomestic and cross-border e-commerce particularly sincethe beginning of the pandemic and to examine thebarriers and challenges that MSMEs face in this type ofinternational trade. To understand the process of digital transformation anddigital capacity-building of MSMEs for the effectiveimplementation of cross-border e-commerce processes,systems and tools, along with the support thatgovernments …

E-business innovation and customs renovation for secure supply chain management

Information technologies (ITs) and supply chain management (SCM) are increasingly considered as indispensable tools of competitiveness especially for companies facing excessive global competition, although these companies have not necessarily succeeded in taking full advantage of such cutting-edge technologies and management systems. Their use, especially of international SCMs, is limited to a small number of purchaser-suppliers groups that are formed primarily by transnational corporations (TNCs). The factors impeding a proliferation of SCMs at a global scale include the difficulties that com…

Observatory of customs controls for United States imports: technical standards

Global antidumping activity peaked in 2001, with 366 petitions initiated world-wide, and rapidly diminished to just 163 cases in 2007. With the onset of the current major world-wide recession some observers feared that antidumping usage would climb dramatically; however while antidumping activity was up by 28% in 2008 (to 208 cases initiated, according to WTO statistics), the rise was not nearly commensurate with the financial distress, and new antidumping initiations for the first three quarters of 2009 -at 154 cases- are on pace to show little change for the full year compared to the previou…

Draft common external tariff for the East Caribbean Common Market

Evaluating South-South cooperation in six Latin American and Caribbean countries: Shared challenges for implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

En un mundo cada vez más incierto, la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible es un punto de referencia y una hoja de ruta, y la cooperación Sur-Sur y triangular se ha vuelto cada vez más relevante para movilizar recursos adicionales para su implementación, incrementar las capacidades de cooperación y brindar soluciones flexibles a los retos del desarrollo. En el documento final de la Segunda Conferencia de Alto Nivel de las Naciones Unidas sobre la Cooperación Sur-Sur se invitó a los países en desarrollo interesados a que participaran en las consultas que se celebrasen en el marco de las co…

Digital transformation of SMEs for cross-border trade and e-commerce in the Republic of Korea: insights for Latin America and the Caribbean

The rapid evolution of digital technologies has reshaped global business, forcing not only large but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to embrace digital trade. Nevertheless, many SMEs are struggling to fully implement digital technologies. Against this backdrop, the Republic of Korea has bolstered its support for SMEs, with a focus on human capital development, financing, and research and development. Furthermore, the country has revised its trade regulations and frameworks, placing significant emphasis on digital capacity-building and the alignment of regulations with internatio…

Fixing a Leaky System: Creating Resource Management Systems for Used Textiles

Organised by: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the United Nations Economic Commissions for Europe (UNECE) and for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) This session explores the global flows of used garments, and their reuse, recycling and disposal pathways. Taking the examples of Chile and Europe, the United Nations Regional Economic Commissions for Europe (UNECE) and for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) will present findings and policy recommendations from their joint report “Improving the sustainability of used clothing: Global, European, and Chilean perspectives''. Governments, UNE…

Strategies for Post COVID-19 Recovery in the Caribbean

Segundo Foro de Inversión y Cooperación de Alto Nivel China-América Latina

El Segundo Foro de Inversión y Cooperación de Alto Nivel entre China y América Latina, organizado conjuntamente por la Comisión Económica de las Naciones Unidas para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), el Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina (CAF) y el Ministerio de Finanzas de la República Popular de China, se llevará a cabo en la sede de la CEPAL en Santiago, Chile, el 16 de octubre de 2019.…

Latin America-European Union cooperation: A partnership for development

La Unión Europea ha puesto especial interés en promover la cooperación al desarrollo como un instrumento junto con los Acuerdos Marcos o de Asociación. Hoy la realidad de los países que conforman la Asociación Estratégica entre la UE y la actual Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y del Caribe (CELAC), es bastante diferente a la imaginada al inicio de la década de 1990. A casi 15 años del inicio de la asociación estratégica entre la Unión Europea y la actual Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC anteriormente con el Grupo de Río) es importante observar las perspectivas fut…

Economic growth with equity: challenges for Latin America

The publication of this book was made possible by the contributions of the Ford Foundation and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The funds of the latter institution are managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). This is an ECLAC and Palgrave Macmillan copublication. Preface From time to time, Latin American countries experience growth spurts, like in the period 2004-05, when the region achieved the highest biennial growth rate of the past 25 years. However, sustained growth has been elusive in the last quarter …

Macroeconomic cooperation for uncertain times: the REDIMA experience

This book shows how international policy cooperation can be beneficial even in the absence of strong real transmission channels between countries. “Cooperation for learning”, the approach to cooperation we present, works by allowing policymakers to exchange experiences and jointly learn how to address regular common policymaking challenges posed by different types of uncertainty. Such cooperation is based on the establishment of links between policymakers and other institutions. International organizations like the United Nations can nurture and support such learning networks. In Latin America…

The Latin American regulatory environment for digital trade

The volume of trade in digitally enabled services in Latin America and the Caribbean is determined, in part, by the complexity and heterogeneity of the regulatory environment in home and destination markets, according to firm-level surveys conducted in the region. This report analyses the regulation of digitally enabled and computer services in 13 Latin American countries using the Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (DSTRI) and the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index for computer services (CSSTRI) developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The re…

Strategies for increasing economic resilience in the Caribbean

Segunda Reunión de Ministros de Relaciones Exteriores del Foro CELAC - China

Intervención de Alicia Bárcena, Secretaria Ejecutiva de la CEPAL, en la Segunda Reunión de Ministros de Relaciones Exteriores del Foro CELAC-China Santiago de Chile - 22 de enero de 2018 Señor Heraldo Muñoz, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile, Señor Wang Yi, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de la República Popular China, Excelentísimas Señores Ministros y Ministras de Relaciones Exteriores del cuarteto y de todos los países de América Latina y el Caribe, Amigas y amigos, Es un honor dirigirme a ustedes en la Segunda Reunión Ministerial del Foro CELAC-China que se lleva a cabo en un mo…

Negotiating trade agreements for the 21st century

This paper was prepared as a stimulant to discussions at the workshop “Negotiating trade agreements for the 21st century: The case of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement”, organized jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the University of Adelaide’s Institute for International Trade (IIT), with the generous financial support of the Australian Government’s Overseas Aid Program (AUSAid). The workshop, held at the ECLAC headquarters in Santiago from 26 to 28 March 2012, brought together experienced trade negotiators from Australia’s D…