How to Boost Latin America International Trade in a New Global Context

Latin America is not immune to the impact of the U.S.-China trade relationship. The effects on trade flows, exchange rates and commodity prices are some of the issues impacting the region’s economies. The central themes of the first day of the 23rd CAF Annual Conference include how to cope with this situation and what steps to take to bolster international trade.

In the keynote speech, CAF executive president Luis Carranza Ugarte noted: “Beyond circumstantial effects, we need to look at the new balance we are striking worldwide and how Latin America can be better positioned in the face of the new trading patterns that will emerge.”

Also, Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, said: “Given the current scenario of political, economic and social uncertainty, trade wars and political crises, it is more important than ever to focus on long-term challenges in the Western Hemisphere.”

Former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Michèle Flournoy, in a panel with Thomas Shannon, co-chair of the Inter-American Dialogue and former U.S. Undersecretary of State for Policy highlighted security challenges and geopolitical relations with China, Russia, Europe, and on circumstantial issues such as Brexit. “In the case of China, regarding security, politics, and the economy, we need to assess how we can compete, collaborate, and have a greater institutional rapprochement in order to build a scenario where everyone follows the rules of the game,” he said.   

The debate of the first session focused on how to rethink a trade agenda in the Americas, featuring Carla Hills, former Trade Representative (USA); Anabel González, former Trade Minister (Costa Rica); Marisa Bircher, Secretary of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Production and Labor (Argentina); Martha Bárcena, Mexican ambassador to the USA; and Mauricio Mesquita Moreira, Chief Economist of the Trade and Integration Sector at the IDB.

The second session focused on how to take relations between Latin America and China beyond complementarity, featuring Isabel de Saint Malo, former vice-president and minister of Foreign Affairs (Panama); Alex Hao, partner at JunHe (USA); Enrique Dussel Peters, professor of economics at UNAM (Mexico); Anton Chan, RMB Specialist, Financial Markets at Standard Chartered Bank (USA); Rosa Ng, representative of the DR-China trade relationship, Ibero-American Network of International Studies (Dominican Republic); and Silvia Pavoni, The Banker, Financial Times.

On the third session of the 23rd CAF Annual Conference, convened by CAF—development bank of Latin America—, the Inter-American Dialogue, and the Organization of American States (OAS), issues to be addressed include political changes with upcoming elections and new governments in Brazil and Mexico; social media, misinformation and changing politics in Latin America; and the future of Venezuela.

“The impact of the digital revolution on political systems in general and elections in particular is indisputable. How we can maintain an adequate pace of growth and structural reforms that improve in the long term in Latin America despite lower governments’ capacity to implement reforms, is a fundamental issue for the region to be discussed during the conference,” Carranzaadded.

Learn more about the schedule of the 23rd CAF Annual Conference and follow the live stream.