The document assesses of the situation of the maritime sector in CARICOM and presents a series of new observations and issues. Challenges and barriers in the maritime sector, or problems created through inefficiencies in the maritime sector are analyzed for: maritime freight transport, cruise shipping, ports and yachting. Whilst the first three are part of the original structure of the study, the fourth is included to show the full extension of the maritime sector. To be able to understand the challenges and role of maritime transport in a regional and global context, it is essential to consid…
Given the increasing difficulty of ensuring the supply of crude oil and oil products, and the sharp increase in their prices, biofuels programmes in the developed countries-particularly the United States and the European Union-represent a series of opportunities, challenges and risks for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus, if biofuels production is to create economic growth without jeopardising our natural capital and social equity, it must be developed in the framework of well thought-out national policy.Biofuels public policy cannot ignore national objectives, which invol…
The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the gender and social disparities existing in the
agricultural and rural sector in Caribbean economies. In this context, agricultural transformation as
occasioned by the dismantling of preferential trading arrangements is analysed to identify the most
relevant gender discriminatory measures in the current agricultural development policy and
programmes. The analysis seeks to provide the basis for enhancing understanding among policy
makers, planners and rural development practitioners of the gender and social dimension involved
in the formulati…
This study examines current trends in tourism and agriculture in Caribbean countries and
the strategy for linking them in order to facilitate their future development. The tourism industry
has, in the past, developed largely apart from other sectors such as agriculture. On the other
hand, agriculture has developed mainly to satisfy export markets. Domestic agriculture has had
limited development and has therefore been displaced to a considerable extent by food imports.
The recent promotion of agriculture tourism linkages is an attempt to enhance the local value
added of the tourism industry, w…
Jamaica has abundant renewable energy sources (RES), which have hardly been tapped in the past and could provide for large shares of the future energy requirements. In 2005, around 5% of the expected 4,020 GWh of electricity produced will be based on RES (wind and hydropower). With the new planned target of a share of 15% RES electricity by 2012, a combined renewable capacity of about 175 MW would need to be installed in that year. There is further wind potential on Jamaica, even if no exact figures can be given on the magnitude of the exploitable wind potential. Nonetheless, it seems realisti…
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, August 2002, responded to a new cycle of global meetings that began with the Millennium Summit. The main characteristic of this new cycle is that the focus of the debate has moved away from declarations of principle toward identifying objectives and areas of concrete action, with quantitative commitments and deadlines for compliance. Debates about energy held an important position in Johannesburg. The positive links between access to energy, eliminating poverty and improving People's health and quality of life were emphasi…
This paper examines the progress in the implementation of the CSME and what this has meant for the core (trade, investment, etc.); and functional aspects (foreign policy coordination, education, health and social development, etc.,); of integration. A tentative assessment is also made of the relevance of the current mode of integration in light of the opportunities and constraints of the international environment. The paper is divided into three sections. Section one provides a critical assessment of the implementation of the protocols and other aspects of the CSME. Section two evaluates the …
Summary In Latin America, energy efficiency and renewable energy offer great potential for reducing the negative effects of the ever-increasing rates of energy consumption associated with economic growth and the move towards more energy-intensive societal models. Despite over two decades of discussions aimed at giving energy efficiency and renewable energy more prominent positions in the energy policies of Latin American countries, little has been achieved so far. The fact that these issues have not been integrated into energy policies reflects, to a certain extent, a failure on t…
Abstract The paper deals with changes in the regulation and supervision of the Latin American financial sector in the aftermath of the Tequila Crisis of 1994-1995. While it finds that both have improved, regulation and supervision cannot resolve all problems; good macroeconomic policy and performance are essential complements. This is especially true because of the procyclical nature of financial activity. The paper presents both regional data for Latin America, contrasting it with other emerging markets, and four country case studies (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico). The latter show how…
Abstract New technological options that permit the use of digital systems to create and disseminate information around the world are paving the way for new means of organizing society and economic production and are gradually giving rise to a meta-paradigm that has come to be referred to as the Information Society. Viewed from the perspective of developing countries, the question of how to employ this emerging paradigm to achieve broader development goals and to integrate them more fully into the global Information Society is an issue of the utmost importance on the development agenda…
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…
The training on the Disaster Assessment Methodology was requested by the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy (MIDEPLAN), as part of the ministry’s efforts to improve disaster risk management and reduce risk in the country.
The course is imparted during three days, and combines expositions of the methodology with practical cases to allow participants to apply the different concepts and methods. The training is designed for policy makers and professionals involved directly with disaster risk management and risk reduction. Additionally, and since the methodology has a multisectoral …
This paper compares the dynamism of the Latin American and Caribbean region's services trade with that of Asia, evaluates the determinants of these trade flows, and proposes measures for improving the region's performance. The focus of this study is on other services , which includes all services except transport and travel services (mainly tourism). Other services include many modern service inputs (including communications, financial and information technology services and business services), that play an increasingly vital role in determining many businesses&…
Since the implementation in 1994 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, trade between the three North American countries has almost tripled. However there are substantial impediments for the efficient freight movements between the three countries. Major obstacles derived from transaction costs which reduce and sometimes eliminate the benefits gained from the removal of tariffs resulting from NAFTA. The paper analyzes North American truck, rail and maritime trade and transportation characteristics and operations that serve as the foundation to identify and quantify transaction costs caus…
Presentation
The countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region have shown a keen
and lasting interest in mechanisms of economic development and public policies for its
promotion. This is a process in which ECLAC has been involved ever since it was founded
over half a century ago. Today, the debate on these issues continues against the backdrop
of a globalization process in which the remarkable dynamism of some dimensions
-especially its economic, financial and cultural aspects- contrasts with the
slow formation of an institutional network capable of coping with the increased
interdepend…
The contagion aspects of the financial and exchange-rate crises in
recent years demonstrate the need to extend the domain of macroeconomic
policy from the national dimension to the regional one. This paper
presents the main concepts and challenges behind macroeconomic policy
cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean and evaluates them from
a game-theory perspective. Under certain conditions related to the debate
on optimal currency areas, entering into a cooperative dynamic will be beneficial for all participants. Moreover, it is shown that because the welfare gains from regional cooperat…
Summary In the second half of the twentieth century some of the Latin American countries suggested a system of stratification for mining activity, which was never actually applied, based on criteria such as the volume of production, the amount of capital invested and the number of workers involved in mineral extraction. One result of this stratification, which divided the industry into small-, medium- and large-scale mining, was that governments at different times implemented plans and programs in various areas, without any integrated planning between them; some related to the promotion of…
Governments of the ECLAC region have promulgated labour regimes which support port workers' desire for stable wages and job security, isolate them from market signals and create cargo-handling monopolies. The advent of a global economy, the introduction of export-led growth policies, the acquisition of advanced cargo-handling equipment and electronic information systems, and the participation of private interests in the offer of port services permit enterprises to compare, purchase and employ raw materials, labour and service inputs worldwide, and have transformed the traditional concept …
Regional integration has once again become an important issue for Latin America and the Caribbean. Compared with previous experiences, however, recent integration commitments have a number of new aspects in such areas as negotiating procedures, the issues involved in the various agreements -some of which are as unprecedented as the adoption of common currencies, the creation of binational companies, common labour laws, etc.- and the actual timing of these steps. Among the various integration initiatives now being pursued, four are particularly important by virtue of the relative weight of the …
This document is a contribution of ADEME and ECLAC to measurement of the progress in Latin America on energy policies related to Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The document was prepared within the framework of the Energy Efficiency Indicators Database project, which aims to contribute to technical capacity-building in the countries of the region to monitor their progress towards affordable, efficient, secure and modern energy.…