Latin America and the Caribbean
Presentation of the Latin American Economic Outlook 2008 in Madrid - 26 November 2007
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After its worldwide launch in Santiago de Chile, attended by the Secretaries General of the OECD, the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Ibero-American General Secretariat and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Latin American Economic Outlook 2008 was officially presented to Europe on 26 November in Madrid. The event, hosted by Casa América, gathered distinguished representatives from the Spanish public administration, as well as personalities from several |
| academic institutions, the private sector and the general public. Members of the report’s Advisory Board, the Iberoamerican Secretary General, Enrique Iglesias, and the Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Leire Pajín, opened the session, underlining the importance of the growing interest in Latin America of an institution such as the OECD. They were then joined in the discussion by the Spanish Ambassador to the OECD, who is currently Chair of the OECD Development Centre Governing Board.
Javier Santiso, Acting Director of the Development Centre, made a presentation of the report, followed by a roundtable debate, led by journalist, Andrés Ortega, on the main development challenges faced by Latin America, highlighting the main conclusions and recommendations of the report.
The ex-President of Costa Rica and member of the Club of Madrid, José María Figueres, stressed the importance of education and of sustainable and environmentally sound development as the main pillars for Latin American economic growth. Ángel Torres, the Secretary General for Economic Policy and Competency, also discussed in depth the current macroeconomic situation of Latin America and underligned the relevance, demonstrated by the OECD, of export diversification and telecommunications and infrastructure development in order to take advantage of the current price of raw materials.
Finally, the Spanish Secretary of State for Iberoamerica, Trinidad Jiménez, drew attention to the substantial support provided by Spain to OECD work in the region. The event was closed by the President of the Inter American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno. |
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