Latin American Economic Outlook 2019
Development in Transition
Latin America and the Caribbean has seen a remarkable socio-economic progress since the beginning of the century. Countries strengthened their macroeconomic situations, living standards improved, and poverty and inequality declined. Yet, large structural vulnerabilities remain and new ones have emerged. Many of these are linked to countries’ transition to higher income and development levels. The Latin American Economic Outlook 2019: Development in Transition (LEO 2019) presents a fresh analytical approach to the region’s development trajectories. It assesses four development traps relating to productivity, social vulnerability, institutions and the environment. It outlines local opportunities for responding to these traps and seeks ways of improving the interactions and interlinkages between global public goods and national development agendas, all in the context of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. LEO 2019 calls for improving domestic capacities and adopting a new vision of international co-operation as a facilitator to support efforts to achieve sustainable development for all throughout the region.
Also available in: Spanish
International co-operation as a facilitator to address new domestic and global challenges
This chapter presents three dimensions for rethinking international co-operation as a facilitator to support LAC countries in their transition paths to sustainable development. The first dimension looks at redefining governance based on inclusiveness. It calls for countries at all income levels to build multi-stakeholder partnerships as equal partners. The second dimension looks at strengthening institutional capacities. It places national strategies front and centre and strengthens domestic capacities by prioritising, implementing and evaluating development plans, aligning domestic and international priorities, and supporting countries in maintaining a role on the global agenda. The third dimension looks at broadening the tools of engagement to include knowledge sharing, multilateral policy dialogues, capacity building, and co-operation on science, technology and innovation. Expanding international co-operation modalities welcomes a range of actors, including public actors from different ministries in a “whole-of-government” approach. The chapter calls for ongoing analyses with LAC countries on concrete options for implementing these dimensions.
Also available in: Spanish