CAF promotes debate on the future of Latin America in the new global context

More than 1,400 people will attend this year's XIX Annual CAF Conference, one of the main forums for discussion on Latin America, which will address the geopolitical changes in the region and the challenges it now faces given the economic downturn in China-the driving force behind its growth over the last decade. Experts will also explore, among other topics, the effects of the global outlook on the new middle class in Latin America, the process of integration, and the international projection for the region.

The conference, organized each year by CAF-the development bank of Latin America-together with the Inter-American Dialogue and the Organization of American States (OAS), will take place at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington D.C. on September 9 and 10.

"In Latin America there are many important structural reforms pending, and in that context, the turn in tides is an important factor," according to CAF Executive President Enrique Garcia, who will open the conference together with OAS General Secretary Luis Almagro, and Inter-American Dialogue President Michael Shifter. "More than ever, we should concentrate on two fundamental issues: productive transformation and regional integration."

More than 50 distinguished speakers from diverse backgrounds will be participating in the upcoming conference. Among the most prestigious guests are: former Panamanian President Martin Torrijos; the former International Development Bank (IDB) president and former Ibero-American Secretary General Enrique Iglesias; Colombian Minister Maria Angela Holguin and Paraguayan Minister Eladio Loizaga; Ibero-American Secretary General Rebeca Grynspan; Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Brazil Marco Aurelio Garcia; Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson; Central Bank of Uruguay President Mario Bergara;  former Colombian Minister of Finance Jose Antonio Ocampo, and former Peruvian Minister of Finance Luis Miguel Castillo.

The experts will consider the current challenges facing the region at a time when, although the U.S. economy is recovering, there seems to be a persistent economic standstill in Europe and Japan while China has undergone a series of economic stumbles. This fact has raised doubt in the international markets regarding the financial stability of the Asian giant. In this context, the Latin American middle class is particularly vulnerable and the prosperity achieved over the last decade of accelerated growth could be compromised.

The panel on "Growth of the Middle Class in Latin America and its Future Sustainability" will be moderated by Guillermo Perry, professor at the Universidad de los Andes and former Colombian finance minister along with Santiago Levy, IBD vice president; Nicole Harrington; deputy director of the OECD Development Center; Luis-Felipe Lopez-Calva, lead economist and regional poverty advisor at the World Bank; and Pablo Sanguinetti, CAF chief economist.

There will also be a panel on the relationship between Latin America and Asia moderated by Marta Lucia Ramirez, former Colombian minister of commerce; Leonardo Arizaga, Ecuadorian vice minister; Hiroshi Watanabe, governor and CEO of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation; and Hu Biliang, dean of Emerging Markets Institute, Beijing Normal University.

Scholars, political analysts and journalists from the region will speak on the political outlook of those countries going through an electoral year: Argentina, Peru, Venezuela and Guatemala. The panel on the elections will be moderated by Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue.

Regional integration will also have a panel during the conference moderated by Argentine scholar Felix Peña, with the following participants: Ministers Loizaga and Holguin and former Chilean and Bolivian Ministers Alejandro Foxley and Gustavo Fernandez, respectively.

Furthermore, given the recent normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba, there will be a debate on "The Road towards the Transformation of Cuba." The panel, moderated by the president of the Central Bank of Uruguay, Mario Bergara, will include: Ted Piccone, Senior Fellow at Brookings Institute; Juan Triana, professor at the Universidad de La Habana [University of Havana]; and German Rios, CAF corporate director of strategic affairs.

You can follow the conference on Twitter with hashtag #DIALOGOCAF2015