Latin America and the Caribbean requires a reactivation with transformation to move towards a more productive, inclusive and sustainable future

Latin America and the Caribbean needs to change its development model to move towards a more productive, inclusive and sustainable future, said today José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ( ECLAC), at the inauguration of the Financing for the Big Push for Sustainability seminar, which was held at the headquarters of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“We need a reactivation with transformation”, emphasized the highest representative of ECLAC at the beginning of an official visit to Brazil, which will last until Wednesday, June 7, and which includes activities in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.

“Acting with a sense of urgency and raising the level of ambition in policy efforts is required. This is not a time for gradual and timid changes, but for bold and transformative policies that really move the needles of development”, he pointed out during his presentation at the seminar co-organized by ECLAC, BNDES and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation (FES).

Together with José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, the event was inaugurated by Aloizio Mercadante, President of BNDES, and Christoph Heuser, FES Representative in Brazil.

In his opening speech, the President of BNDES highlighted the long history of cooperation between the Brazilian development bank and ECLAC and the challenges of collaboration in the current context of new transformative, digital and sustainable industrialization.

Christoph Heuser, for his part, stressed that the association between ECLAC and FES has always been virtuous and incorporates issues of common interest, such as progress towards compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), employment and gender equality. , not only conceptually but in the different areas that may include a fair transformation.

During his presentation, the ECLAC Executive Secretary recalled that the region is at a turning point in the face of a cascade of shocks that exacerbate historical gaps. He added that globalization is no longer what it was in the last 30 years: It has shifted towards a regionalism characterized by protectionist tendencies, by the reconfiguration of global value chains fueled by geopolitical reasons and a rivalry for technological supremacy.

In the social area, meanwhile, the highest representative of ECLAC specified that extreme poverty and poverty remain above pre-pandemic levels: At the end of 2022, poverty affected 201 million people (32.1% of the total population) and the number of people in extreme poverty was 82 million (13.1%), due to the combined effects of growth, the labor market and inflation.

He warned that in Latin America and the Caribbean only 25% of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals show a behavior that makes it possible to anticipate their fulfillment in 2030, 48% reveal a correct but insufficient trend and the remaining 27% exhibit a trend of recoil. Therefore, “75% of the goals are at risk of not being met, unless determined actions are taken to recover the correct path,” she warned.

To move towards a reactivation with transformation, ECLAC proposes ten priority areas, explained the senior United Nations official. These are: Promotion of productivity, productive development, employment and inclusive growth; reduction of inequality; strengthening of social policies and social protection; vocational education and training; gender equality and the care economy; sustainability and climate change; digital transformation; proper management of migratory flows; regional economic integration; and macroeconomics for development.

Likewise, he stressed that policies aimed at strategic sectors matter and for this reason ECLAC proposes thirteen areas of opportunity for growth and collaboration, among which are the energy transition, electromobility, the care society, the medical device industry, sustainable water management and digital government, among others.

“You have to make productive bets on dynamic sectors. This, well done, through a couple of decades in a sustained manner, moves the needles of productivity, of growth and is an essential part of development strategies”, she underlined.

Finally, he called for generating a permanent social dialogue that connects institutions with citizens and political and social actors, and creates broad consensus on development directions.

“At ECLAC we strongly promote future dialogues, because spaces for dialogue have many benefits: not only that scenarios are better seen collectively and restrictions are understood, but they are also ways to broaden consensus,” he concluded.

Within the framework of the seminar, ECLAC and FES-Brasil presented the document Financing the Big Push: Pathways to unblock the social and ecological transition in Brazil (Financing the Big Push: caminhos para destravar a traição social e ecologica no Brasil).

The official visit of ECLAC’s Executive Secretary to Rio de Janeiro included a bilateral meeting with Aloizio Mercadante, with whom he agreed to deepen the alliance between ECLAC and BNDES, as well as a new stage of strengthened collaboration. In particular, it was agreed to create the BNDES-CEPAL +70 Working Group, alluding to the working group that both organizations held in the past, with the aim of promoting research and training on issues related to sustainable development in Brazil and the region. .

Later, the highest representative of ECLAC visited the Oswaldo Cruz – Fiocruz Foundation, where he signed the extension of a joint cooperation agreement.

On Tuesday the 6th and Wednesday the 7th, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs will hold a series of bilateral meetings with high-level authorities in Brasilia.