The Economic Perspectives Report of Latin America (LEO) —jointly prepared by CAF, the OECD Development Centre, ECLAC, and the European Commission under the title “Driving and Financing Productive Transformation”— presents recommendations to strengthen institutions and mobilize sustainable financing.
The LEO Report also considers how to attract quality investment, boost productivity, and accelerate the productive transformation of Latin America and the Caribbean. In this way, this report, which is already in its bnbnbnbnb edition, consolidates itself as one of the main international references for economic analysis of the region.
During its presentation last week at the CEOE headquarters, the vice president of CEOE and president of the Institute of Economic Studies-IEE, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa; the director of the OECD Development Centre, Ragnheidur Elin Arnadottir; the director for Latin America and Regional Programs of the Directorate General for International Partnerships (INTPA) of the European Commission, Félix Fernández-Shaw; and the vice president of Cooperation, Alliances, and Mobilization of CAF, Alicia Montalvo intervened.
The session brought together representatives from the co-authoring institutions, international financial organizations, experts, and business representatives, who discussed the main challenges and opportunities to promote more sustainable, inclusive, and competitive growth in Latin America.
However, as pointed out by the director of Relations with Ibero-America of CEOE and permanent secretary of CEIB, Narciso Casado, “the moment demands going beyond analysis and turning the diagnosis and narrative offered by the LEO report into action.”
According to Casado, “Ibero-America has a unique differential asset: it is a region where institutions, multilateral organizations, business organizations, universities, and companies converge, sharing two major languages, common values, and a close cultural proximity.”
In this context, CEIB also reiterated the need to strengthen public-private partnerships and regional cooperation, continuing the work promoted after the Ibero-American summits in the Dominican Republic and Ecuador, especially through the Commitments for Investment and Youth Employability, as levers to transform that shared potential into concrete results.
The Ibero-American Secretary General, Andrés Allamand, emphasized the main structural problem of the region: the stagnation of productivity, which has not taken off for twenty years and which, during the period analyzed by the successive LEO reports, has left Latin America and the Caribbean growing at an average rate of barely 2.4%.
“Without increasing productivity, we cannot grow,” warned Allamand, who was clear in stating that the problems of the region are not only economic but also political; therefore, he urged public officials to use the conclusions of the LEO report as a basis to drive the reforms that Latin America needs.
