During the XVIII CAF Conference, Latin American leaders highlight the need to make regional integration a reality

During the second day of  CAF's XVIII Conference, political leaders, renowned entrepreneurs, and academics from Latin America and other regions called for integration, stating that there is a great opportunity, and countries should be taking advantage of it.  

The main speaker of the morning session was Enrique Iglesias, former Ibero-American Secretary General, who stated that the Latin American economies combined reach USD 7 billion. "Latin America can take advantage of this powerful market" said Iglesias, and suggested that Latin America must focus on the creation of supply chains, and increase productivity and competitiveness at a global level. 

During his intervention in a panel focused on the economic prospects of Latin America, moderated by CAF's Executive President Enrique Garcia, Jose Antonio Ocampo, former Minister of Finance in Colombia stated, "Our markets are Latin America's main opportunity, but to be able to take advantage of that opportunity it is necessary to have a real regional integration". 

This debate included the participation of Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Mario Bergara, Minister of Economy and Finance of Uruguay, Joao Carlos Ferraz, General Director of the Development Bank of Brazil, Jorge Familiar, The World Bank's Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Alejandro Werner Director of the Department of Hemispheric Affairs at the International Monetary Fund. 

The participants in this panel coincided in that the region must grow at a faster pace. "If we continue to grow by 3 percent per year, we will never close the gap between Latin America and industrialized countries", stated Enrique Garcia, Executive President of CAF, Development Bank of Latin America. 

Haiti was a central topic during the second day of the debate.  Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie, Haiti's Minister of Economy and Finance, shared the scenario of her country's recovery efforts after the devastating 2010 earthquake, but highighted that Haiti must stay away from what she described as a failed humanitarian dependence model.

"Haiti is not a failed state. This is an absolutely erroneous notion. We must look at Haiti as a state in recovery", adding that Haiti intends to become, in the medium term, an open economy, open to international markets and an economy whose risks are proportional to the returns on investments. She stated that "Our objective is to be an emerging economy by 2030".  

The Minister highlighted that with respect to the economy, international investments in Haiti increased by 20 percent, and private investments increased by 30 percent. She also pointed out the achievements with respect to education, with a primary education reaching 84 percent.

Jean-Marie expressed her gratitude for the aid received from the international community and organizations such as CAF. She recognized that without that support, those achievements would not have been achieved. At the same time, she announced the coming creation of an investment fund aimed at economically feasible projects in the fields of infrastructure, agro-industry, and tourism. She highlighted that these projects will help address one of the main challenges currently faced by Haiti, with an unemployment rate that reaches 40 percent. 

The panelists debated issues such as changes in the energy matrix in Latin America, and the hemispheric challenges in the region twenty years after the first Summit of the Americas. 

With a recognition of the increasing influence of women, the Conference closed. It included the assistance of more than one thousand opinion leaders, politicians, and entrepreneurs who met in Washington DC to debate and analyze the challenges, economic trends and policies, and the most relevant topics in Latin America. 

The annual event is organized by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, the Inter-American Dialogue,  and the Organization of American States (OAS).