SELA CONVENES LATIN AMERICAN COUNCIL

Caracas, November 26- The Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), Ambassador Roberto Guarnieri, announced that the annual meeting of the Latin American Council will be held from 27 to 29 November 2013 in Caracas.

The Latin American Council is the highest decision-making body of SELA and is made up by representatives from each one of the 28 Member States.

SELA is a regional organization for consultation, coordination, cooperation and joint economic and social promotion, of a permanent nature, composed by sovereign Latin American and Caribbean States.

According to the Panama Convention establishing SELA, signed in October 1975, the functions of the Latin American Council are: to establish the general policies of SELA; to elect and remove the Permanent Secretary; to adopt its Rules of Procedure as well as those of the other permanent bodies of SELA; to consider and approve the Annual Report submitted by the Permanent Secretariat; to approve the budget and financial statements of SELA, and to fix the quotas of the Member States; to consider and approve the Work Programme of SELA; to evaluate, direct, and approve the activities of the organs of SELA; and to approve the common positions and strategies of the Member States with respect to economic and social matters, in international and regional organizations and forums, and before third countries or groups of countries.

This year, the Permanent Secretariat has conducted 54 projects, which shows a vigorous activity that contributes to greater economic and technical cooperation and integration among Member States. They dealt with various areas, namely: best practices in national, bilateral and regional trade issues; dissemination of innovations; promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises and their inclusion in value chains which transcend the national boundaries; research and analysis of relevant economic and social issues in Latin America and the Caribbean; and relations with current or potential partners from other regions.

The Latin American Council will analyze and approve the Work Programme for the year 2014, which will deepen synergy between SELA and other integration and cooperation mechanisms. The Programme includes new studies and technical cooperation programmes, promotion of SMEs, and common strategies for the international economic and financial relations with countries in other geographical areas. It also promotes cooperation among International Trade Single Windows, which are designed and organized on the basis of information and communications technology systems, and entail programmes to modernize and reform the sectors and agencies involved in trade procedures, in order to reduce paperwork, costs and time spent in transactions.

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