SELA STRENGTHENS SUPPORT FOR CELAC ACTIVITIES

Caracas, 16 January 2014.- The Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) will deepen its support for the activities to be carried out by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) during 2014, under the Pro Tempore Presidency of the Republic of Costa Rica.

The Pro Tempore Presidency of CELAC, being held by the Republic of Cuba, will be assumed by Costa Rica at the Second Summit of the organization, to take place on 28 and 29 January 2014 in Havana. The Permanent Secretary of SELA, Ambassador Roberto Guarnieri will attend this meeting.

The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States was created in Caracas, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, within the framework of the III Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean on Integration and Development (CALC) and the XXII Summit of the Rio Group, held on 2 and 3 December 2011.

CELAC is a representative mechanism for political coordination, cooperation and integration of the Latin American and Caribbean States, and a common space that ensures the unity and integration of our region. CELAC brings together 33 States, while SELA includes 28. The non-members of the latter are the Eastern Caribbean countries, which have been invited to join SELA.

During 2013, SELA carried out several activities in support of CELAC, including the Meeting of High-Level Officials on Productive and Industrial Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held in Caracas on 3 and 4 October.

Ambassador Roberto Guarnieri, Permanent Secretary of SELA, stressed that the XXXIX Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council of this organization, held in Caracas from 27 to 29 November 2013, adopted some proposals, presented as part of the Work Programme for 2014, to provide CELAC with the technical support it requires to perform its tasks.

On that occasion, he said the Permanent Secretariat will continue very attentive and willing to comply with the mandates and the instructions received from CELAC, in order to facilitate the activity of the Community.

In accordance with the Convention establishing SELA, this organization aims to support the integration processes of the region and encourage coordination among them, or with Members States of SELA, particularly with respect to those activities aimed at promoting greater harmonization, duly respecting the commitments made within the framework of such processes.

The Work Programme adopted by the Latin American Council, which is the supreme organ of SELA, is divided into three areas: Intra-Regional Relations, Economic and Technical Cooperation, and Extra-Regional Relations.

The Intra-Regional Relations area provides for the Programme “Support to integration and policies for economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean,” which includes, as one of its activities, the “Compliance with the Decisions of the Latin American Council regarding the links of SELA and its Work Programme with CELAC: Productive and industrial development.” This activity aims to prepare a draft work agenda and base documents to be submitted for consideration of the First Ministerial Conference on Productive and Industrial Development of CELAC.

The Permanent Secretariat of SELA carries out systematic analyses and investigations of the Latin American and Caribbean integration process, covering its main aspects and interrelations. In line with the consolidation of CELAC, the Permanent Secretariat seeks to contribute to the creation of an up-to-date and comprehensive vision of the integration process, by monitoring these processes and the events conducted within them.

In 2014, an activity is scheduled to take place with the aim of evaluating the regional integration process, in which different mechanisms make their contribution, namely: CAN, CARICOM, MERCOSUR, SICA, ALBA-TCP and the Pacific Alliance.

Results of the ongoing analysis of the regional integration process in Latin America and the Caribbean will be released in an Annual Report, which will include the situation, progress and difficulties of this process in the various fields of action: international context, institutional changes, trade in goods and services, foreign direct investment, financial and monetary coordination, productive integration and development, physical infrastructure, trade facilitation and social dimension. The report will also include the evolution of regional cooperation programmes that promote integration.