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ECLAC wants renewed ties between Europe and the Caribbean

PARIS, CMC – The European Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has called for renewed ties between the European Union and the Caribbean.

Addressing a meeting here on “New EU Development Cooperation Strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC),”, ECLAC’s executive secretary Alicia Bárcena said the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean “have the opportunity to find more complementarities to overcome old historic, social and trade-related asymmetries and advance towards a more balanced and equitable relationship”.

The senior United Nations official was one of the main speakers at the meeting, organized by the EU-LAC Foundation and the Development Center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with the support of the EU program, EUROsociAL.

ECLAC said the meeting was inaugurated by Benita Ferrero-Waldner, president of the EU-LAC Foundation, and Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the OECD-ministers.

Bárcena also spoke in the French capital at the 2014 International Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by the OECD, which was attended by Michel Sapin, Minister for Finance and Public Accounts of France; Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Danilo Astori, Uruguay’s vice-president; and Rebeca Grynspan, Ibero-American secretary general (SEGIB), among other officials.

Bárcena said that “since the crisis that began in 2008, the problems that the Euro zone has had to face have led to stagnation in the relationship between the two regions,” adding that the EU “continues to be the main collaborator, the main direct investor and the second-biggest trade partner of Latin America and the Caribbean.

“For that reason, it is necessary to foster renewed ties between the governments, companies and social actors of both regions,” she said.

Bárcena said a deeper partnership between Latin America and the Caribbean and the EU would allow for accelerated economic growth in the region, progress on the structural change towards more knowledge-intensive sectors, poverty reduction, and greater social inclusion and environmental protection.

She said that despite recent progress, LAC continues to be the region with the worst income distribution in the world, “which is compounded by multiple gaps that reinforce each other, including gaps in human resource development”.

Additionally, Bárcena referred to the existence of other types of inequality, such as functional inequality, “which prevents workers from obtaining adequately the profits of productivity generated in the economy”.

She underscored the need to put greater emphasis on productivity as a means to reducing inequality and poverty even further.

“The export model of Latin America and the Caribbean must be refurbished.Opening up is important, but it is not enough. What can governments do? Focus more on investment and have a deliberate industrial policy that also addresses the governance of natural resources.”

She also emphasized the importance of the integration of productive chains, which ECLAC said is at a very low level in Latin America and the Caribbean (19 per cent), compared with the European Union (66 per cent).

“In sum, we have five main messages: productivity, redistribution, urbanization, integration and sustainability. Economic growth and the reduction of monetary poverty are not enough, and a multidimensional approach is required.”

She said Latin America and the Caribbean can grow with greater levels of inclusion, protection, participation, and social, economic and political equality; promotion and fulfillment of human rights; reduced exposure to the negative impact of external volatility; higher levels of productive investment; greater generation of decent, quality employment; and greater environment sustainability and resilience in the face of disasters.

 

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A Moment with the Registrar of Lands

PARIS, CMC – The European Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has called for renewed ties between the European Union and the Caribbean.

Addressing a meeting here on “New EU Development Cooperation Strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC),”, ECLAC’s executive secretary Alicia Bárcena said the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean “have the opportunity to find more complementarities to overcome old historic, social and trade-related asymmetries and advance towards a more balanced and equitable relationship”.

The senior United Nations official was one of the main speakers at the meeting, organized by the EU-LAC Foundation and the Development Center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with the support of the EU program, EUROsociAL.

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ECLAC said the meeting was inaugurated by Benita Ferrero-Waldner, president of the EU-LAC Foundation, and Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the OECD-ministers.

Bárcena also spoke in the French capital at the 2014 International Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by the OECD, which was attended by Michel Sapin, Minister for Finance and Public Accounts of France; Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Danilo Astori, Uruguay’s vice-president; and Rebeca Grynspan, Ibero-American secretary general (SEGIB), among other officials.

Bárcena said that “since the crisis that began in 2008, the problems that the Euro zone has had to face have led to stagnation in the relationship between the two regions,” adding that the EU “continues to be the main collaborator, the main direct investor and the second-biggest trade partner of Latin America and the Caribbean.

“For that reason, it is necessary to foster renewed ties between the governments, companies and social actors of both regions,” she said.

Bárcena said a deeper partnership between Latin America and the Caribbean and the EU would allow for accelerated economic growth in the region, progress on the structural change towards more knowledge-intensive sectors, poverty reduction, and greater social inclusion and environmental protection.

She said that despite recent progress, LAC continues to be the region with the worst income distribution in the world, “which is compounded by multiple gaps that reinforce each other, including gaps in human resource development”.

Additionally, Bárcena referred to the existence of other types of inequality, such as functional inequality, “which prevents workers from obtaining adequately the profits of productivity generated in the economy”.

She underscored the need to put greater emphasis on productivity as a means to reducing inequality and poverty even further.

“The export model of Latin America and the Caribbean must be refurbished.Opening up is important, but it is not enough. What can governments do? Focus more on investment and have a deliberate industrial policy that also addresses the governance of natural resources.”

She also emphasized the importance of the integration of productive chains, which ECLAC said is at a very low level in Latin America and the Caribbean (19 per cent), compared with the European Union (66 per cent).

“In sum, we have five main messages: productivity, redistribution, urbanization, integration and sustainability. Economic growth and the reduction of monetary poverty are not enough, and a multidimensional approach is required.”

She said Latin America and the Caribbean can grow with greater levels of inclusion, protection, participation, and social, economic and political equality; promotion and fulfillment of human rights; reduced exposure to the negative impact of external volatility; higher levels of productive investment; greater generation of decent, quality employment; and greater environment sustainability and resilience in the face of disasters.