Past events

One of the main activities of the Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) is to promote the development in Latin America and the Caribbean of negotiating capacities for the governance of cyberspace. To meet this goal, it is organising, together with the European Institute for International Studies (EIIS), two training courses focused on Cyber Diplomacy and Techplomacy. This innovative proposal provided for a training programme with an informative session on Cyber Diplomacy and an approach to the relationship between diplomacy and technology, and subsequently an assessment of the application of diplomacy to the arising political and geopolitical problems with the digital technology sectors. In the first stage of the training programme, the Specialization Course on Cyber Diplomacy was held with the aim of describing the application of diplomacy to the political and geopolitical problems that have arisen in cyberspace. In the second stage, the Specialization Course on Techplomacy aims to describe the interaction between States and large companies in the technology sector and the way they change both the geopolitical and business worlds. This training will continue with the Specialization Course on Techplomacy, which is presented below. 

The emergence of COVID-19 has posed a huge challenge for the world, in particular for the Latin American and Caribbean region. According to the UN Report on the impact of COVID-19 on the region, prior to the pandemic, the region's development model already faced serious structural limitations: high levels of inequality, balance-of-payments constraints and exports concentrated in low-tech sectors, recurrent exchange rate and debt crises, low growth, high levels of informality and poverty, with this health crisis exacerbating the situation by deepening inequalities and disparities. The COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to be the cause of the region's biggest economic and social crisis in decades, with very negative effects on employment, combating poverty and reducing inequality. Governments in the region were forced to deal with the pandemic, which affects all sectors of society through containment measures to prevent the spread of the virus and mitigation measures to manage the impact and alleviate its effects. They reacted to the emergency in all areas, redefining plans and re-seizing resources to respond to the health, economic, social and environmental crisis, took steps to strengthen the capacities of health systems, protect the most vulnerable, and support the economy to avoid collapse. As pointed out in OECD's study "An overview of government responses to the crisis", the scale of this effect and the possible recovery in the coming years will depend on the ability of governments to revive their economies while mitigating health challenges. The pandemic has highlighted the chronic shortcomings of state action and offered a great opportunity to strengthen the region's responsiveness and correct existing dysfunctions. One year after the onset of this crisis, it is necessary to evaluate the results and consider long-term policies. That is why the OECD, SELA and PAHO have considered it important to conduct an online seminar, in order to present the region's response to the COVID-19 crisis in the social, economic, health, and governance field, which can serve as a starting point for an analysis of what was done, what was no longer done, what was done well, and what should be improved. Participants will also address the issue at the heart of everyone's attention today: vaccines. How the countries of the region have considered access to vaccines and how they plan to bring it to all their inhabitants. Recovery will depend on the ability of governments to revive their economies while addressing the public health crisis, which means that the vaccine is accessible to all.

  One of the main activities of the Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), under the mandate of the XLVI Latin American Council, is to promote the development in Latin America and the Caribbean of negotiating capacities for the governance of cyberspace. To meet this goal, it is organising, together with the European Institute for International Studies (EIIS), two training courses focused on Cyber Diplomacy and Techplomacy. This innovative proposal aims to launch a training programme with an informative session on Cyber Diplomacy and an approach to the relationship between diplomacy and technology, and subsequently examine the application of diplomacy to the political and geopolitical problems arising with the digital technology sectors. In this regard, in its first stage, the activity envisages a Specialization Course on Cyber Diplomacy aimed at describing the application of diplomacy to the political and geopolitical problems that have arisen in cyberspace. In its second stage, it will address the Specialization Course on Techplomacy with the purpose of describing the interaction between States and large companies in the technology sector. The first session on Cyber Diplomacy will provide initial training, as described below.

The Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) are organizing the "XXXI Meeting of International Cooperation Directors for Latin America and the Caribbean: Unity and solidarity against the pandemic". This activity is aimed at assessing the actions of international cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean in the context of the pandemic and analyzing mechanisms to make it more effective and efficient in the short term.

  The sessions of the XLVI Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA will be held at the headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat through the Zoom platform. The Preparatory Stage will be held on 16 November as of 11:00 a.m. and the Ministerial Stage on 17 November as of 12:00 p.m. (Venezuela time).

The Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region has immense tourism potential based on its environmental resources, its natural and sociocultural, as well as one of the greatest biodiversity on the planet, characteristics that promote it as a place to visit. These are resources that many of its countries have used in the productive transformation of their economies and development strategies when designing their public policies. The tourism industry has been a driving force for growth in Latin America. It generates employment, improves the quality of life of peoples by promoting their well-being, and therefore contributes to the eradication of poverty. Thanks to it, many LAC countries promote sustained and inclusive economic development, full and productive employment, as well as a commitment to the sustainable use of their maritime and terrestrial ecosystems. For recipient countries, tourist activity has many advantages. First of all, it is a source of currency that helps their balance of payments. Moreover, they cover different areas they often mean a source of income from which much of the population benefits; and it is an industry that does not need much time to be developed and usually bears fruit immediately. Such a reality has been severely affected by the adverse effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism has virtually been paralyzed globally, causing serious economic consequences in the hotel industry, airlines, transport companies, restaurants and accommodation services, among others. As a result, the region's development processes have been seriously compromised, particularly the tourism sector, a vital source of resources especially for Caribbean countries. The threat to the tourism sector is serious. Not only the incomes of workers and companies in the sector are affected, but also the national foreign exchange income and external account balances, with the situation being particularly difficult for small countries specializing in the sector, and serious implications for their Gross Domestic Product. Aside from being an area affected by the global economic downturn in 2020 due to the COVID-19 impact, tourism must face border closures, restrictions on people’s mobility, a slow full-fledged restoration of international transit of people and goods, and voluntary isolation of a large number of people. All of this seems to indicate that recovery is likely to take longer than desired. Also, the economic activity derived from tourism can have a high impact on the environment. In addition to encouraging greater promotion of tourist destinations, sustainable development of the region should be encouraged by safeguarding the environment. In this connection, ecotourism is proposed as a new way of continuing tourism activities as a source of resources, while raising awareness of the need and importance of conserving the environment for future generations. Sustainable tourism recognizes that the protection and improvement of local resources, respect for the human factor and proper management must be at the heart of economic and environmental sustainability and development, as indicated by the Charter for Sustainable Tourism (1995). Special attention should be paid to the new climate change perspectives and the concerns and direct effects, mainly on the coasts and islands. Undoubtedly, the economic activity of tourism is a factor that contributes to fulfil the sustainable development goals and objectives set out in the 2030 Agenda, as agreed by the United Nations (UN) in 2015. These objectives include (i) ensure sustainable consumption and production; (ii) take urgent action to combat climate change; (iii) guarantee the conservation and sustainably use of oceans, seas and marine resources; and (iv) promote the sustainable use of Terrestrial Ecosystems. However, such scenario requires contingency plans to promote a responsible recovery of the sector of tourism as soon as sanitary conditions permit. Measures are needed to alleviate the situation in the sector, either through the conclusion of international agreements, or by encouraging greater promotion of tourist destinations in the countries of the region, or by promoting an environmental preservation and conservation scheme. The revival of tourism activity is an urgent issue to address. The economies of many LAC countries depend on this source of resources. With this virtual seminar, SELA hopes to contribute to the reflection and exchange of constructive ideas on possible solutions for the recovery of the tourism industry in the region in the short and medium term, including perhaps an exchange of experiences and best practices with other more regions that have made progress on the subject. This meeting also provides an opportunity to raise awareness among policy-makers that the measures to be taken should highlight the need and importance of preserving the environment for future generations, and promote a form of tourism in which good environmental conservation practices are implemented. With this initiative, the Permanent Secretariat aims to open up a space for the generation of discussions and debates in the search for solutions for the hotel industry, with the public and private sectors contributing their viewpoints, so as to expand the scope of responses to the crisis caused by COVID-19, with the ultimate purpose of achieving well-being of the communities.

Created in 2014, the Network of Digital and Collaborative Ports is making progress thanks to the non-refundable technical cooperation agreement between CAF-development bank of Latin America through its CAF-LOGRA Programme, and the Permanent Secretariat of SELA; by which it has been possible to create a Network linking twenty-eight port systems in thirteen Member States[1]. The core strategy of the programme has been to promote and contribute to the creation of support networks both at the country and regional levels through a new system of inter-agency collaboration and specialized technical cooperation that promotes the strengthening of public policies aimed at the port sector, as well as the implementation of technical recommendations at the local level in each port system. This is aimed at increasing the competitiveness and sustainability of the port logistics chain, by modernizing ports as its main mechanism. Since 2017, the Network established its own governance with its collaborating members that has enabled the development of a work agenda in the scientific-technological, management and sustainability areas of port logistics communities and in the design of public transport and trade policies for the development ports and their logistics. Following this breakthrough, a renewed image of the Network is foreseen in 2020 with the launch of the new portal (Web site and extranet), as part of the actions to promote port digitization in the region. In 2021, this programme is expected to continue to be strengthened with the incorporation of new tools and training workshops on technological and information improvements that will also enable to increase the usefulness of the specialized portal for the members of the Network and the general public. In this vein, and for the sake of digital transformation, the new Web site and extranet will increasingly improve the administrative processes of port communities in the region, expand communications among its members, and stimulate the search for integration solutions that enhance logistics chains in the future; which is particularly important amid the emergency situation posed by the adverse scenario due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   [1] Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.

The treatment of fisheries subsidies is a major issue for international trade, the negotiations of which are expected to conclude a regulatory agreement that determines a disciplinary, efficient and sustainable regulatory policy. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the body responsible for conducting this debate, bearing in mind that discussions are primarily focused on achieving the eradication of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing). The elimination of fisheries subsidies involves resolving key aspects of species preservation, and therefore debates must clarify core and technical aspects of overcapacity, overfishing and overexploitation and analyse the scope of the financing schemes of the fishing industry, while also considering differentiated treatment for developing and least developed countries. The multilateral nature of these negotiations and the debate on the criteria for the applicability of rules for subsidies is one of the biggest and major challenges of WTO members, including those in Latin America and the Caribbean, given the relevance of the fisheries sector in the economies of the region. The issue has been discussed since 2001 in view of the mandate emanating from the Doha Ministerial Conference, but the urgency of concluding negotiations arose following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, with one of the specific goals for the preservation of maritime life establishes the elimination of fisheries subsidies. The deadline for reaching the agreement is set for the year 2020.

During the period 1960-1980 Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a positive economic performance that positioned the region as a benchmark for growth and destination of foreign capital. Until 1981, low interest rates, favourable terms of trade and generous international lending created a climate of abundance and optimism. However, from 1982 on, interest rate hikes and imbalances in the trade balance triggered a crisis that lasted until the early 1990s. During this time, the debt burden became unsustainable, the level of productive activity plummeted, and real wages contracted because of widespread inflationary processes. All this led to an unprecedented stagnation of output per capita and a reversal of the economic and social indicators known in literature as “the lost decade of Latin America and the Caribbean”. This crisis meant not only strong instability, but also a long period of adjustments and reforms focused on laying the foundations for sustainable economic growth. Fundamentally, the measures focused on reducing government spending to consolidate public finances, facilitate the return of capital, and initiate a marked process of trade opening that would drive insertion into international economic circuits. This last policy area would not only improve the trade balance and expand target markets, but also deepen the process of structural change to increase the levels of regional productivity and competitiveness. However, there was little progress and at present, in Latin America and the Caribbean, many of these challenges are still pending tasks within a global context that is continually undergoing profound transformations. Proof of this is the fragility of the economic performance evidenced by the fall in commodity prices in 2014 and the region’s lack of capabilities to recover leveraged in alternative productive activities. Faced with this, discussions for the design and implementation of policies that paved the way for the region towards a path of more growth revived, putting at the centre of reforms the needs for technological innovation and productive diversification to scale up at the links of global supply chains. However, the results of these efforts have not been as expected. In 2019, economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean averaged just 0.6% because of the low levels of productivity, international trade tensions, falling commodity prices and low export complexity. Amid this challenging context, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean face the worst economic crisis since statistical records of national accounts began in the 1950s. Estimates of major international organizations have predicted that by 2020 the regional economy will fall by -9.4% and 15% of formal jobs will be lost. Due to this profound fall in activity, alarms have already been raised about the emergence of a “new lost decade for Latin America and the Caribbean” between 2015 and 2025, bringing with it serious economic and social consequences. However, unlike the debt crisis of the 1980s, the affectation of all countries on the planet in the current circumstances will result in the generation of significant changes in international economic dynamics, requiring a process of reflection by the countries of the region in order to rethink their role as global players. In particular, the changes in the dynamics of international trade and value chains could provide opportunities for further internationalization and rethink regional integration. The difficulties of these turbulent times can become catalysts for consensus, to undertake an agenda of actions that will definitely allow us to overcome of pre-existing and pandemic challenges.