The economies of the subregion were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those dependent on tourism. As a result, the Caribbean has seen a reversal of the hard-won gains achieved in growing their economies and reducing unemployment and inequality. The inflation stemming from pandemic supply chain disruption, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has made the sustained uptick in economic performance beyond pre-pandemic levels unlikely, notwithstanding strong growth estimates for 2021 and 2022. The last two years have taught the region that continued ‘business as usual’ is…
This document takes up a number of the points raised in the 2005 report by ECLAC and other UN agencies on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean. It provides further discussion on the type of problems and challenges facing the region in five areas that are either included in the MDGs or closely related to them (poverty, hunger and child malnutrition, education, health and children). The document makes recommendations for the region's governments and countries in these five areas.…
Dear Executive Secretaries of the sister UN Regional Economic Commissions,
Dear Selwin Hart, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Climate Action Team (CAT)
Dear Thilmeeza Hussain, Director of the Regional Commissions New York Office,
Distinguished guests, colleagues, and participants,
Welcome to this side-event on how Critical Energy Transition Minerals can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), convened under the auspices of the United Nations Regional Economic Commissions.
Today, we gather to address a defining challenge of our time: powering and enabling the…
Between 2003 and 2008 Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) experienced its most remarkable expansionary period since the 1970s. Yet, LAC countries' productivity gaps widened during this period vis-à-vis industrialized countries (here represented by the United States' manufacturing sector) as revealed in CEPAL (2010). The paper splits up this process and examines the different outcomes observed at the national level for the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico during these boom years. It examines the composition of productivity divergence in terms of sec…
This research produced evidence about the contribution of investment and other sources to the growth process of Latin America during 1960-2002, and provided answers to the questions listed above unless from an historical perspective. The combined growth accounting and regression analysis, and used data for the six largest Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. These countries produce nearly 90 per cent of Latin America's GDP. Alternative growth accounting methodologies were used to measure the contributions of the sources of growth to GDP gro…
Trade among the ALADI countries has grown with exceptional vigour so far in the 1990s, especially in the branches of metal products, machinery and equipment, chemical products, and foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco. In order for this dynamic growth to be sustainable in the long term, these countries must develop their intra-industry trade by promoting reciprocal supply in those branches. The bulk of transnational productive capital in Latin America is concentrated in those branches, and it is in the metal products, machinery and equipment sector that the swiftest increase in intra-industry tra…
This paper examines the challenges facing the labour market in the Caribbean. It uses a combination of past studies and interviews with key informants to identify the key challenges and main policy responses. The main challenges are youth unemployment, the mismatch between the educational system and the needs of the labour market, the creation of jobs, the low levels of productivity coupled with relatively high wages, the emigration of skilled labour from the region and inadequate labour market information. A number of policy measures are suggested for dealing with these challenges: educationa…
This article seeks to summarize the results of some studies on the structure and dynamics of the big domestically owned industrial companies and groups in five Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico); and presents supplementary elements for placing them in an overall perspective. The studies include individual analyses of 46 leading companies (in Brazil, Chile and Colombia); and 15 economic groups with an industrial base (in Brazil and Mexico);, together with aggregated studies of such groups in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. In all cases, the studies were based…
The constitution of a new international industrial order dominated by a core of large transnational corporations generally makes life more difficult for the great majority of developing countries because, since most are not in a position to compete effectively, they face still greater marginalization. TNCS more than ever before can significantly influence the international competitiveness and therefore the nature of incorporation of developing countries into the new increasingly integrated international production system. The national origin and form of foreign direct investment and technology…
Latin American manufacturing industry has undergone various changes in recent years. It has registered a favourable performance as far as exports are concerned, but production and investment have grown only slowly in a context of sluggish recovery of domestic demand and greater foreign competition. Other features are greater specialization in natural resource-based intermediate goods characterized by the importance of economies of scale, relatively long lead times for the heavy investments required, and the presence of privatized and transnational enterprises. At the same time, there are signs…
Buenas tardes y bienvenidos todas y todos a este evento paralelo organizado por la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), en el marco del Foro Político de Alto Nivel sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible 2024.
Quisiera en estos breves minutos de bienvenida e introducción a este evento explicar cómo vemos desde la CEPAL las razones y objetivos por los que les hemos convocado hoy.
Y para esto quisiera comenzar con una corta historia.
En el 2011, en ocasión de una reunión Cumbre de presidentes y jefes de Estado de los países asiáticos, el Banco Asiático de Desarrollo elaboró un docu…
El Secretario Ejecutivo de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, instó hoy a los gobiernos y sectores privados de la región a fortalecer las políticas de desarrollo productivo apostándole y colaborando para el desarrollo de sectores dinamizadores del crecimiento y la transformación para avanzar hacia un futuro más productivo, inclusivo y sostenible.
El máximo representante de la Comisión regional de las Naciones Unidas participó en el Foro Económico Internacional América Latina y el Caribe 2025: ¿Cómo retomar la senda de crecimient…
La Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) celebrará del 6 al 8 de mayo la XXXVI edición del Seminario Regional de Política Fiscal, reconocido foro regional que durante 36 años ha convocado a autoridades, especialistas, sociedad civil y academia para dialogar sobre los desafíos de política fiscal que enfrentan los países de la región.
En la reunión participarán autoridades de los Ministerios de Hacienda de 13 países de la región y reconocidos expertos de organismos internacionales, academia, organizaciones de sociedad civil y organizaciones no gubernamentales.
El encuentro …
Los países de América Latina y el Caribe instaron hoy a revitalizar el compromiso con la Agenda 2030 para el desarrollo sostenible y propiciar políticas y acciones renovadas y audaces para acelerar el paso hacia el cumplimiento de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), durante la inauguración de la séptima reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, que se celebra hasta el jueves 18 en la sede principal de la CEPAL en Santiago, Chile.
En la apertura del encuentro -que reúne a representantes de los 33 países de la región, de agencias de la…
(publicado originalmente en el sitio web del Foro Económico Mundial-WEF el 19 de enero de 2023)
Se estima que el crecimiento medio de los países de América Latina y el Caribe será del 1,3% en 2023, reflejando una trampa estructural de bajo crecimiento, elevada desigualdad, instituciones débiles y mala gobernanza, combinada con unas condiciones internacionales adversas.
Los gobiernos de la región enfrentan dificultades para promover la creación de empleo, mantener el gasto y las transferencias sociales e invertir en educación. La región se enfrenta al riesgo de episodios de agitación social…
Los países de América Latina y el Caribe refrendaron hoy su compromiso con la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible y con una recuperación transformadora, que ponga a la igualdad en el centro del desarrollo para construir un mundo mejor, e hicieron un llamado urgente a revigorizar la respuesta regional ante la pandemia del COVID-19, especialmente el acceso equitativo a vacunas, durante la inauguración de la cuarta reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible.
El evento, que por primera vez en su historia se realiza de manera virtual, reúne en …
La Oficina de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) en Buenos Aires celebró los días 24 y 25 de abril un Seminario-taller sobre estructura productiva, instituciones y dinámica económica que contó con la presencia del Secretario Ejecutivo Adjunto de este organismo, Antonio Prado.
Al encuentro asistieron además el Director de la Oficina en Buenos Aires, Martín Abeles, y diversos funcionarios de la CEPAL, así como economistas que se desempeñan en distintas universidades, centros de investigación e instituciones públicas de Argentina.
En ese foro, Antonio Prado ad…
Autoridades y delegados de 29 países de América Latina y el Caribe, de agencias de las Naciones Unidas y organismos regionales, multilaterales y de la sociedad civil participantes en la séptima reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, concluyeron hoy el encuentro con el reconocimiento de que sin la erradicación de la pobreza en todas sus formas y dimensiones, y del hambre, no será posible construir un desarrollo más inclusivo, productivo y sostenible en la región.
Asimismo, enfatizaron la necesidad de implementar políticas públicas integrales…
This paper develops a framework to analyze the potential of different variables to increase total factor
productivity (TFP) growth in countries with poor productivity performance. It takes an industry level
approach for a set of countries used as a benchmark. The information comes from the EU KLEMS and
LA KLEMS databases. Once this influence is measured, the difference in the scores of each variable in
four Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico) with respect to the benchmark is
used to test their potential for increasing productivity growth. Results show that, the top p…
This article makes both a theoretical and an empirical analysis of the new policies applied in Argentina since 1992 with regard to the treatment accorded to capital goods: exemption from import duties, with drawback facilities for domestic producers in respect of their local sales. The new system is evaluated through a detailed analysis of its effects on demand for capital goods (section II);; on the domestic supply of such goods (section III);; and on some macroeconomic variables such as the fiscal balance (section IV); and the external balance (section V);. Some aspects relating to the manag…