Improving governance, strengthening the technical, operational, political and prospective capacities of institutions, as well as promoting social dialogue, will allow higher, sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, concludes the document Latin America and the Caribbean in the face of development traps : essential transformations and how to manage them, from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The study, published within the framework of the 40th session of this regional body of the United Nations Organization, which concluded on Friday in Lima, proposes three types of transformations: the productive one, the one that reduces inequality and promotes inclusion and social mobility, and that which promotes sustainability and combats climate change.
The document, prepared by the substantive divisions, subregional headquarters and national offices of ECLAC, states that Latin America and the Caribbean face three development traps: low capacity to grow; high inequality, limited social mobility and weak social cohesion, as well as low institutional capacities and weak governance.
These three traps are enormous obstacles to building a more productive, inclusive and sustainable future, so it is not an exaggeration to say that the region is going through a development crisis. In addition to these pitfalls, the region faces the challenge of climate change and promoting environmentally sustainable development.
ECLAC highlighted that the region’s low capacity to grow is associated with a low investment rate and an insufficient level of skills in human resources, but, above all, with stagnant or falling productivity.
At the same time, there are insufficient efforts to incorporate greater knowledge and technologies into the sphere of production, as well as to promote structural change towards higher productivity activities.
The trap of low capacity to grow can only be overcome by promoting a major productive transformation which, in turn, is only possible through a significant escalation in the level of ambition and scope of productive development policies under the modern vision.
stated the authors of the study.
They commented that this perspective is based on collaborative efforts between different productive sectors and adopts an internationalization approach.