Caracas, Venezuela. October  09 to 10, 2014 . Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) Permanent Secretariat Av. Francisco de Miranda – Torre Europa - floor 5 Conference Room Andrés Bello.

With this meeting, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA intends to continue with the analysis and the preparation of proposals to promote and strengthen the diversification of economic and foreign trade relations of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with the nations of the Pacific Rim, India and the African continent.

Within the context of the international financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, emerging countries, such as those in Asia-Pacific and Africa – with China, India and South Africa standing out – gained weight on the global economy and trade. This calls for analytical studies on the new environment and external relations of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as exchanges of experiences and discussions about the opportunities arising for the development and diversification of their economies and international insertion.

With respect to the countries of the Pacific Rim, in that geographical area there are some of the countries with the highest economic growth in recent decades, showing great achievements in their main macroeconomic variables and the social progress of their peoples, including China, India and the Southeast Asian nations.

Over the past 25 years there have been some rapprochements between that region and the Latin American and Caribbean countries, with the purpose of developing increasingly stronger and mutually beneficial economic, commercial and financial ties. However, the potential for both regions to increase their relations is still very broad.

The intense and sustained growth and the technological breakthroughs of the Pacific countries have triggered a strong demand for natural resources which widely transcends their borders and possibilities, and have provided a support to the growth of a large number of emerging and developing economies exporting raw materials, including Latin American and Caribbean countries. In this connection, the study presented by SELA in this meeting contains a comprehensive and medium-term approach which examines the evolution of the economies in this area and their share in the global economy, as well as the opportunities offered to the countries of our region to increase, deepen and diversify their economic relations with this important area of the world economy.

With regard to India, the study prepared by SELA emphasizes the fact that that nation is a heavyweight player in international politics, not only because of its own economic dimensions but also because of its explicit political will to exert influence on a variety of issues on the global agenda. India is profiled to be an emerging country with a global presence. This prompts LAC to seek to approach to India, at the country and regional levels, and gain deeper knowledge about those areas in which both parties could work together for mutual benefit. In this regard, the study highlights existing opportunity areas that could be developed at the national and/or regional levels. Without a doubt, LAC could benefit from greater trade flows, the reception of more investments, higher yields for its companies operating abroad, a greater number of tourists and the best practices that India has adopted to excel in areas such as the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, the sector of services with added value, and its extensive technical cooperation. In order to take advantage of the benefits of cooperation with India, the study concludes that LAC should establish a strategy to strengthen institutional mechanisms that promote and contribute to consolidating a closer comprehensive relation with that nation.

With respect to Africa, the study conducted by SELA represents an effort to nurture knowledge and debates on the current status of economic and cooperation relations between both regions, as well as new modalities for economic, commercial and cooperation relations that could help to create new links and strengthen existing ones in the various fields of international cooperation. The study underscores that the two regions have a great potential for cooperation, since they share similar characteristics, interests and challenges in different fields, where working together can bear fruit for the two regions. Accordingly, the study identifies new opportunities for rapprochement approach in a number of areas where such linkage could be strengthened. Specifically, the study describes various work areas in which it would be possible to promote exchanges and cooperation, such as transport, energy, telecommunications, trade facilitation, health, environment, risk management, housing, and strengthening the management of the public sector.