The OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, presented the Latin American Economic Outlook 2008 on 7 November, during his trip to Chile. Well-known personalities such as Enrique Iglesias (Secretary General of the SEGIB – Iberoamerican General Secretariat –  and ex-President of the Inter-American Development Bank), José Miguel Insulza

(Secretary General of the Organisation of American States), and José Luis Machinea (Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) accompanied Mr. Gurría in the presentation of the report, which analyses the main development challenges and opportunities in Latin America and is the first report to be published by the OECD on the region as a whole.  

  This was also the first occasion on which four outstanding Latin Americans, all at the head of international organisations, met in public in order to support the launch of a report. Indeed, this emphasises the importance given by the international community to the increasing attention paid by the OECD to Latin America.

  Other members of the publication’s Advisory Board also participated in the lunch in Santiago de Chile, for instance the Vice-President for Latin America at the World Bank, Pamela Cox, the President of the BNDES, Luciano Coutinho, the Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Leire Pajín, and the Director of the Economic Office of the Spanish Government President, David Taguas.

  The presentation of the report was organised around a press conference and a seminar, which was comprised of two panels analysing the reform agenda in Latin America and the role of the private sector in the region’s development. This last session enjoyed the participation of executives from important multinationals, such as Telefónica, Endesa, Codelco and Coface. To conclude the event, the Chilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alejandro Foxley, congratulated the OECD on this new initiative, stressing the need for Latin America to take advantage of the current context to develop responsible and pragmatic policies.

• Program of the event (pdf)
• Speech by OECD Secretary General, Angel Gurría (in Spanish)
• Speech by Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alejandro Foxley (pdf, in Spanish)
• Presentation on the report by Javier Santiso (in Spanish, pdf)