22nd CAF Conference opens debate on Latin America’s challenges in a changing global context

More of 1,000 world leaders will meet at the 22^nd CAF Conference to discuss new prospects for trade and investment between China and Latin America; what to do in the region to achieve sustained growth; how to narrow the productivity gap; how to think beyond short-term policy to reach consensus towards sustainable development; challenges in the 21^st century for freedom of the press; and elections and political developments in Latin America, with a focus on Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela.

The Conference is jointly organized by CAF-development bank of Latin America, Inter-American Dialogue and the Organization of American States (OAS), and will be held on September 5-6 at the Newseum in Washington D.C. As every year, prominent political leaders, senior officials of international organizations, scholars, analysts and renowned journalists will address the most relevant global issues for the region.

Panelists include Luis Carranza, executive president of CAF; Luis Almagro, Secretary-General of the OAS; and Michael Shifter, President of Inter-American Dialogue; who will also be the keynote speakers, followed by a discussion on 21^st-century challenges for freedom of the press by Marty Baron, editor of The Washington Post; Carlos Dada, founding director of El Faro (El Salvador); Roberto Pombo Holguín, chief editor of El Tiempo (Colombia); and Carlos Reymundo Roberts, editor of La Nación (Argentina); moderated by Catalina Botero, Dean of the Faculty of Law of Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia).

The relations between China and Latin America under a new trade and investment outlook, influenced by US policies, will be another topic for discussion among Rogers Valencia, Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism; Dulcidio De La Guardia, former Minister of Finance of Panama; Tatiana Rosito, Senior Member of the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI); Kevin Gallagher, director of the University of Boston Global Economic Governance Initiative; Álvaro Mendez, co-director of the London School of Economics Global South Unit; moderated by Isabel Hilton, editor of China Dialogue.

On Thursday, experts from the development financing world will discuss Latin America’s challenges in making growth more sustainable. Rebeca Grynspan, Ibero-American secretary-general (SEGIB) will moderate a discussion by Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); Dyogo Henrique De Oliveira, President of the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES); Jorge Familiar, Vice President of the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean; Miguel Castilla, general manager and director of Strategic Development at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); and Alejandro Werner, director of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The debate will focus also on a core topic for the development and well-being of the population, i.e. escaping the middle-income trap and closing the productivity gap, featuring Santiago Levy, Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge of the IDB; Arturo Condo, President of EARTH University; Mariana Costa, founder and president of Laboratoria; and José Juan Haro, public policy director for Latin America at Telefonica; moderated by Gonzalo Chávez, an economist from the Catholic University of La Paz (Bolivia).

Another challenge in Latin America, which is devising long-term policies and reaching consensus for sustainable growth, will be addressed in a panel featuring Urenna Best, Director-general of the National Secretariat for Afro-Panamanian Development (SENADAP); Luis Ernesto Gómez, former Deputy Minister of the Interior of Colombia; Juan Maquieyra, President of the Public Housing Institute in Buenos Aires (Argentina); and Hernán Larraín, President of the EVOPOLI political party (Chile), moderated by Andrea Bernal, a journalist with NTN24.

The 22^nd Annual CAF Conference will wrap up addressing a crucial subject: elections and political developments in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela. This panel will be chaired by Michael Shifter, President of Inter-American Dialogue; together with Luis Bareiro, a journalist with Última Hora (Paraguay); Mónica de Bolle, Director of Latin American Studies and Emerging Markets at SAIS; Mónica Pachón, Dean of the School of Political Science, Government and International Relations at the University of Rosario (Colombia); Michael Penfold, Professor at IESA (Venezuela), and Jesús Silva-Herzog Márquez, lecturer at Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico).

You can follow the 22^nd Annual CAF Conference live here and make comments with the hashtag #DiálogoCAF2018