With the latest Doha Round ending in failure, Latin American nations should seek out further trade ties to the Asia-Pacific region, advise Osvaldo Rosales of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and COA's Eric Farnsworth.
Underdeveloped logistics and online payments methods are the main impediments to greater e-commerce transactions in Latin America, writes Klaus Stoll, the senior executive vice president of the Community Access Foundation.
AS/COA Director of Public Policy Programs Juan Cruz Diaz draws on his experience at the 2005 Mar del Plata Summit to look ahead to next year’s meeting of regional leaders, outlining steps that should be taken for a successful summit.
In an article for Viewpoints Americas, AS/COA President Susan Segal writes that, while free trade and NAFTA have taken the blame for manufacturing job losses in the U.S. Midwest, trade accounts for a substantial portion of U.S. growth that supports Midwestern manufacturing and agriculture.
FedEx Express' Juan Cento warns that the while Latin America has experience its highest economic growth rates since the late 1970s, poor transportation infrastructure and regulatory barriers "undermine the region's competitive strengths." He suggests the development of public and private sector partnerships to boost regional infrastructure.
Pablo Reyes, Director of the Center for Latin American Strategic Studies in Bogota, calls for careful policy planning for biofuels. He writes that governments and industry. "International cooperation is essential for the biofuels industry to move forward," he writes.
The hemisphere-wide commodity-led boom is unlikely to improve competitiveness without sweeping reforms in the areas of infrastructure, institutions, and human capital, according to Jerry Haar of Florida International University. His new book, Can Latin America Compete? Confronting the Challenges of Globalization, will be launched at AS/COA.
