Joining forces, building bridges and synergies between countries of the Pacific Alliance is necessary for economic recovery: CAF

During the opening of the 9th edition of the Business Summit of the Pacific Alliance, the executive president of CAF—development bank of Latin America—, Sergio Diaz-Granados; Raquel Buenrostro, Secretary of Economy; Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón, Secretary of Foreign Affairs; and Valentín Diez Morodo, president pro tempore of CEAP Mexico; agreed that by joining forces, building bridges and creating synergies between and within countries, there can be a positive economic, social and inclusive recovery.

CAF’s executive president emphasized: “The capitalization approved by the Board of Directors and the Shareholders’ Meeting last December and March, for 7 billion dollars, in addition to being a record high in the history of the institution, will practically double its financing capacity by 2030, thereby reaffirming its commitment to supporting the development of Mexico and Latin America and the Caribbean.”

The Business Summit aims to foster dialogue and trade exchanges between authorities, institutions and the business sector. This year the goal was to reiterate the importance of the participation of women entrepreneurs in the business community of the Alliance along with public policies that foster growth and development through investment and trade among member countries.

CAF’s work will focus on several key pillars for the region: climate change and disaster prevention, energy transition; strengthening sub-national development; regional integration; sustainable tourism and biodiversity protection; food security, and promotion of the private sector and strengthening of national development banks, among others.

During his participation in the opening ceremony, Díaz-Granados noted that the region faces structural challenges, and that the most recent edition of the Economy and Development Report published by CAF shows that intraregional trade has fluctuated between 13% and 15% of total exports since the mid-90s. “Thus, there is an area of opportunity to strengthen trade between countries,” he concluded.

As part of the event, they pointed out that apart from tariffs, non-tariff barriers and historical aspects, trade between Latin America and Caribbean countries is low, and this is partly due to the low competitiveness of borders, their logistics infrastructure and regulations that impact productive integration such as rules of origin. In this regard, the president of CAF pointed out that the Pacific Alliance “is no stranger to this dynamic, and its results encourage us to continue working together.” He reiterated his commitment to continue promoting the development and growth of the region, and paraphrasing the Mexican soccer star, Chicharito Hernández, invited the countries of the Pacific Alliance and businessmen of the region to “imagine chingona things” to which Foreign Minister Ebrard replied defiantly “let's do chingona things.”

In Mexico, the evolution of the portfolio of activities has been very positive in recent years in key sectors for regional integration, trade, energy efficiency, digitalization, urban mobility and logistics infrastructure. This is all part of priority projects for Mexicans e.g. the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the comprehensive development of Tabasco, among others.

With actions and participations such as this, CAF—development bank of Latin America—reiterates that integrating and promoting sustainable development in the region is a challenge that can be achieved through an innovative mechanism such as the Pacific Alliance, and the programs and initiatives promoted by the organization.