ISSUE 45: MARCH-MAY 2007
network of research and training centres/programmes
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“Social and Economic Challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean: Defining a Development Agenda for the Region” was the topic of a March 14 seminar organized jointly by United Nations University and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Seminar participants discussed the social and economic factors that define development of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the challenges that these countries face in their efforts to attain sustainable and equitable growth. More than 100 persons attended the event, which was held in the U Thant International Conference Hall of UN House in Tokyo.
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Keynote speaker was Dr. José Luis Machinea (left), Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Dr. Machinea said that the region's economic growth rate has improved and unemployment is falling despite a large increase in the active economic population. From the 1980s through 2002, the average annual GDP growth rate was 2.2 per cent, but in 2003 through 2006 this increased to over 3 per cent. Meanwhile, unemployment fell from 12 per cent in 2003 to 9 per cent in 2006.
Poverty also has been
decreasing, he said, although it took 25 years — until 2005 — to bring
the unemployment rate (which reached a peak in 1990) back down below the
level of 1980. While there is great variation with the region, the region
generally is now less vulnerable to external shocks and enjoys better
terms of trade than in the past.
But this good news, he cautioned, is balanced by a number of negative
factors, including the prospect of mediocre long-term growth rates, a
smaller growth increase than that enjoyed by many other developing
countries and a lack of significant improvement in income distribution. He
also cited a number of continuing risks and challenges, both in external
conditions and in domestic policy.
Dr. Machinea’s presentation was followed by a panel discussion chaired
by the Mexican ambassador Miguel Ruiz-Cabañas. Panellists were Prof.
Kotaro Horisaka, director of the Iberoamerican Institute, Sophia
University; Ms. Taeko Hoshino, deputy director general, Area Studies
Center, Institute of Developing Economies–Japan External Trade
Organization; and Prof. Neantro Saavedra, director of the APEC Study
Center, University of Tsukuba.
© 2007 United Nations University