CAF to present report on local development

(Quito, October 25, 2010).- CAF – Latin American development bank – the Ecuadorian Association of Municipalities (AME), the Ecuadorian Consortium of Provincial Councils (CONCOPE), and the Committee on Economic and Territorial Development (CEDET), have organized a seminar to be held on October 27 in the city of Cuenca. The event will analyze the main conclusions of the sixth edition of the Report on Economy and Development (RED), Local development: toward a new role for cities and regions

RED 2010 is presented by CAF as part of the institution’s actions to encourage reflection on key issues for the development of Latin America and create spaces for exchange of information, experiences and knowledge.

Some of the key issues covered by RED 2010 include the benefits of the decentralization process which has been taking place in Latin America, and the relevance of local and regional governments in defining and executing development strategies which raise the productivity of cities and provinces and improve the quality of life of their inhabitants.

This study recommends that the role of local and regional governments should go beyond their formal powers in terms of expenditure, taxes and regulations established by the decentralization regime, in order to play a role in implementing local development strategies which are comprehensive and approached from the territory. The content of the sixth edition of RED addresses the following issues:

• Development from the territory: promoting local initiatives
• Globalization, productive concentration and spatial disparities
• Human capital in movement
• Decentralization and local development
• Local management in Latin America: some development patterns
• Institutions and local productive transformation
• Quality of life in cities
• Citizen security from the territory