Morning

REGISTRATION

9:00 – 9:30

OPENING SESSION 

• Ambassador Antonio Vargas Hernández (Spanish), Director-General of the Directorate-General for Multilateral Cooperation (DIGECOOM) of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development of Dominican Republic.
• Ambassador Javier Paulinich (Spanish) of the Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA).
• Ramón Ventura Camejo, Minister of Public Administration of Dominican Republic.
• Marcelo Puello Ávalo, Viceministry of Export-processing Zones and Special Regimes of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and MSMEs (MICM) of Dominican Republic.

09:30 – 09:45

OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH

10:00 – 11:00

SESSION I: CURRENT SCENARIO: IMPORTANCE OF TRADE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Moderator: Paloma Corporán, Market Access and Formalization Officer of the Ministry for Industry, Trade and MSMEs (MICM) of Dominican Republic 

Panellists: Representatives of regional and international organizations:

• Jesús Marcano, Analyst of Studies and Proposals of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA). Infrastructure for greater trade integration in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish).
• Alicia Maude Stephens, Senior Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank (WB).
• Martín Sánchez-Checa Salazar, Director for Integration of the Directorate-General of the Pacific Alliance (PA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru. El Panorama actual: importancia de la infraestructura comercial para América Latina y el Caribe

 The efficient provision of infrastructure services is one of the most important aspects of development policies, especially in those countries with outward-oriented growth strategies. The absence of adequate infrastructure and the inefficient provision of infrastructure services represent major obstacles to the effective implementation of development policies and economic growth rates that exceed international averages, as well as to the exchange of goods and inputs with their peers in the production chain, and the marketing and distribution of the final products. In which situation is Latin America and the Caribbean? What are the challenges of the regional outlook for the 2030 Agenda? What are the infrastructure priorities for the development and strengthening of regional value chains in the respective subregional integration schemes?

11:00 – 11:15

COFFEE BREAK

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

12:00 – 01:30 

FREE TIME FOR LUNCH 

01:30 – 02:30

SESSION II: FINANCING REGIONAL TRADE INFRASTRUCTURE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Moderator: Nayenksy Concepción, Representative of the Ministry for Industry, Trade and MSMEs (MICM) of Dominican Republic 

Panellists: Representatives of regional development banks and multilateral financial organizations:

• Joaquin Zentner, Economist  of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Financiando la infraestructura comercial: desafíos y oportunidades.
• Otto Gutierrez Kikut, Head of the Strategic Programmes and Acquisitions Department of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). El Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE)
• José Ernesto Buttner, Director of Economic Studies of the Plata Basin Financial Development Fund (FONPLATA). FONPLATA: financiando la infraestructura comercial regional: desafíos y oportunidades. 
• René Pérez Díaz, Head of Regional Office for the Caribbean at the European Investment Bank (EIB).  BEI: EL banco de fomento de la Unión Europea 

Infrastructure is considered a very attractive asset for investment due to its positive effects on economic growth and reduction of trade costs. However, for Latin America and the Caribbean, investment in infrastructure is below desirable levels and there are peculiarities within a region with emerging and developing economies that hinder the attraction of the necessary funds. This session will deal with the main challenges faced by major development institutions to invest and optimally conduct regional or national trade infrastructure projects.

02:30 – 02:45

COFFEE BREAK

02:45 – 04:30

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

06:00 

WELCOMING COCKTAIL

06:10 – 06:30

OPENING SPEECH

Marcelo Puello Ávalo, Vice-Minister for Free Trade Zones and Special Regimes of the Ministry for Industry, Trade and MSMEs (MICM) of Dominican Republic.

06:30 – 07:00 

PERICO RIPIAO AND TYPICAL BALLET
Offered by the Ministry of Tourism of Dominican Republic

07:00 – 09:00

COCKTAIL AND REFRESHMENTS

Friday, 7 December 2018

SESSION III: DISCUSSION PANEL ON LEVERAGING THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGENDA: INFRASTRUCTURE AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Moderator: Joaquin Ramírez, Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Multilateral Cooperation (DIGECOOM) of the Ministry for Economy, Planning and Development of Dominican Republic 

Panellists: International cooperation directors for Latin America and the Caribbean:

• Romilio Gutiérrez, Ambassador of the Republic of Chile in Dominican Republic. AGCID Chile: cooperación chilena para el desarrollo.
• Victoria Codina, National Coordinator of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay of the International Cooperation Group of the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR). Política de cooperación internacional del MERCOSUR.
• Selina Baños, Director of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama. Plan Panamá Coopera 2030.
• Edgar Huezo, Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation of El Salvador. Cooperación Sur-Sur en El Salvador. 
• Gustavo Sierra, Technical Services Advisor to the Ministry of Economy (MINECO) of the Republic of Guatemala.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

COFFEE BREAK 

SESSION III (CONTINUATION): DISCUSSION PANEL: LEVERAGING THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGENDA: INFRASTRUCTURE AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES

• Roberto Gutiérrez, Director of the Subregional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB).
• Frank Lam, Representative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in the Dominican Republic. Apalancamiento de la agenda de cooperación para el desarrollo regional: Infraestructura y nuevas oportunidades. Presentación
• Cecilia Guevara, Regional Monitoring Manager of the Mesoamerica Integration and Development Project. Proyecto de Integración y Desarrollo de Mesoamérica.
• Directors for International Cooperation of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda acknowledge the importance and potential of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation to boost the mechanisms for implementing national and regional development plans, from the mobilization of financial resources, including technical training, to the agreement on coherent foreign policy strategies. Panellists will be encouraged to share the benefits and opportunities offered by infrastructure as a cornerstone to develop international cooperation projects. In addition, they will identify the region's needs and priorities within the framework of the 2030 Agenda, as well as the points of interest of national cooperation organizations and institutions in concluding efforts and resources for South-South and triangular cooperation.

Afternoon

SESSION IV: DISCUSSION PANEL: MAPPING THE INFRASTRUCTURE ROUTE IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Moderator: Jesus Marcano, Analyst of Studies and Proposals of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) 

• Sovieski Nerut, Digital Economy Officer of the Ministry for Industry, Trade and MSMEs (MICM) of Dominican Republic. Mapeando la ruta de la infraestructura en República Dominicana. Presentación
• Alicia Maude Stephens, Senior Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank (WB).
• Jesus Marcano, Analyst of Studies and Proposals of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA).

In this session, participants will make the final considerations of the role of trade infrastructure in the economic development of the region. In addition, they will deal with the sensitive areas on which promotion of cooperation efforts must be based in order to consolidate and realize the maximum benefits of infrastructure development in three (3) critical sectors, in line with the regional needs: transport, finance and telecommunications.

03:30 -04:00

ISSUES OF INTEREST TO COOPERATION DIRECTORS 

• Eduardo Sal y Rosas, Advisor to the Senior Management of the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI): Global Partnership Initiative on Effective Triangular Cooperation (GPI-ETC). Voluntary Guidelines for efficient triangular cooperation (Spanish)  /  Iniciativa de la Alianza Global (GPI) sobre cooperación triangular eficaz.
• Other issues:

  • Announcement of the venue for the XXX Meeting of International Cooperation Directors for Latin America and the Caribbean. Selina Baños, Director-General for Special Projects and International Cooperation of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Panama.

  •  

    Speech by Mr Jeremías Bravo, International Cooperation Project Officer of the Latin American Centre for Development Administration (CLAD).

04:00 – 04:20

CLOSING SESSION 

• Ambassador Javier Paulinich, Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA)
• Ambassador Antonio Vargas Hernandez, Director-General of the Directorate-

  General for Multilateral Cooperation (DIGECOOM) of the Ministry of Economy, 

  Planning and Development of Dominican Republic