Sergio Díaz-Granados
Executive President, CAF -Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean-
Colombia
Representing and interpreting Latin America and the Caribbean in a single image is practically an impossible mission. We are diverse ecosystems at the same time: we are jungle, seas and oceans, deserts, moors and glaciers. We are descendants of native indigenous people, Africans, Europeans and Asians. We are rhythms that go from ranchera to tango, from cumbia to samba. We are science, innovation, SMEs and unicorns; we are community fabrics, solidarity and megacities; We are resilience, peace and a spirit of improvement.
Encapsulating everything we are in a single concept is almost impossible. But that “almost” opens a small window through which we can present ourselves in a big way and, above all, think collaboratively and in a Latin American and Caribbean key. For this reason, at CAF, the development bank of, by and for Latin America and the Caribbean, we have embarked on a mission: to create, with the support and creativity of our people, a brand that raises the projection of the region in the world.
This new instrument represents the feeling of what unites Latin Americans and Caribbean people, and will help the region strengthen its voice on the international stage. This will contribute to promoting investments, encouraging tourism, enhancing projection as a solution region and improving conditions to face major global challenges.
The first step to the creation of the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Brand It is precisely the creation of the visual identity, which will be carried out through a public contest aimed at creatives in graphic design, advertising and communication. CAF promotes a call with the aim of achieving a co-creation exercise between various creative minds in the region.
The ALC Brand has some references in other regions. For example, Brand Africa is an intergenerational movement to inspire an African renaissance and boost its competitiveness, and the Team Europe initiative, led by
the European Union and its member states, seeks to increase the visibility of EU cooperation, promote its values and protect its interests.
In the Latin American and Caribbean case, the regional brand has seven objectives. The first is to position Latin America and the Caribbean as a region of solutions to the challenges of climate change. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, up to 37% of climate change mitigation needs can be addressed with nature-based solutions, which places Latin America and the Caribbean in a privileged position, since we have 9.3 million square kilometers (Km2) of forests (a quarter of the planet's forest cover) and natural ecosystems and biodiversity unparalleled in the world.
The second is the agricultural potential of the region and the ability to satisfy the food demand of a world population that continues to grow and, at the same time, reduce the environmental impact of agricultural activity.
The third objective has to do with promoting tourism, which accounts for 26% of the Caribbean's GDP and 10% of Latin America's GDP; It represents 42% of the total exports of the Caribbean and 10% of Latin America; 35% of employment in the Caribbean and 10% in Latin America. The LAC Brand will also help strengthen the region's exports, and become a more integrated and cohesive region.
The fourth has to do with promoting intraregional trade, one of the great challenges of the region. According to aCAF study, intraregional exchange has remained stagnant at around 15% of total exports since the mid-nineties, while in Europe it has values close to 60% of the total, in North America it reaches 45% and in the East and Southeast Asia at 35%.
The fifth is to promote cultural and creative industries. We are 650 million people from 33 countries, more than 400 ethnic groups and 450 languages, an important potential for our projection.
The sixth objective is to take advantage of the opportunity that Latinos represent around the world. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2022 the Latino population in that country reached 63.7 million people, making it the largest ethnic minority in this territory (19.1% of the total population). If Latinos in the US were a country, they would be the fifth largest economy in the world, with a GDP greater than that of the United Kingdom, India or France.
The seventh objective is to promote initiatives with impact that in turn generate notoriety and are relevant on the global stage. Some examples are the 2030 Centenario Cup or the Pan American Games. And how interesting it would be to have a Universal Exhibition that occurs in our region and have the eyes of the world on Latin America and the Caribbean.
As we see,The ALC Brand is a great opportunity. Therefore, in CAF's role as development bank for the entire region, we fulfill the function of articulating meeting points and we will continue to invest in the generation of alliances with public and private organizations and civil society to position Latin America and the Caribbean. as a region of progress and global solutions.
