CAF and BCRA Choose Winner of “Ideas for the Future” Essay Competition

Nazarena Marano, a student at the Torcuato Di Tella University (UTDT) was selected as the winner of the #IdeasForTheFuture essay competition, organized by CAF together with the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA), for university students from the country and the region. CAF’s goal is to recognize young talent in the region and to encourage ideas that can reflect their vision of the future for their countries, including challenges, as well as proposals for how to address them.

In her essay, “Rethinking Latin America’s Free Trade Agreements: A Tool to Increase Exports?,” Marano analyzes the aspects and dimensions of the political economy to be considered when designing the external negotiating agenda of countries of the region with a view to increasing Latin American exports. To this end, Nazarena relied on the history and experience of negotiations previously concluded, as well as differences in the current structure of exports and tariffs that capture Latin American productive heterogeneity.

The winner was selected by a jury made up of CAF and BCRA representatives, and she received a certificate of recognition from Santiago Rojas, CAF representative in Argentina, and Germán Feldman, deputy general manager of Economic Research at BCRA. “With this competition we seek to promote insightful training on the problems of the region, which allows for exchange and generation of ideas by leveraging the great talent of young people. Thus, we want to contribute to sustainable development, integration and building a better future,” said Santiago Rojas during the online ceremony.

Furthermore, Germán Feldman, deputy general manager of Economic Research at BCRA noted: “The main themes of this year’s award became even more relevant in the current context of the pandemic, i.e. how to avoid falling into the middle income trap; how to balance the social agenda with macroeconomic stability; how to establish appropriate mechanisms to express social discontent; what areas are urgent to accelerate development of the region; how to make SMEs more competitive and offer higher quality jobs.”

The next stage will take place during the CAF Conference to be held in Mexico City on November 6, 2020, where Nazarena Marano will compete with her peers from the 19 CAF member countries for the USD 3,000 first place prize, USD 2,000 for second place and USD 1,000 for third place.

#IdeasForTheFuture promotes the exchange and discussion of ideas that help foster sustainable development and regional integration by encouraging the best university talents in Ibero-America.