ECLAC presents its report on “Disruptions and Opportunities”
The Commission on Geopolitics, Globalization, and Development for Latin America and the Caribbean was convened by the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to present, in Mexico, the report titled “Disruptions and Opportunities: Proposals for Latin America and the Caribbean to Prosper in the New Geopolitical Era.”
This report was prepared over the course of more than a year by 13 commissioners from 12 countries, including Leonardo Lomelí, rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), under the co-chairmanship of the former presidents of Chile and Colombia, Michelle Bachelet and Iván Duque, respectively.
According to the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachis, in light of the profound and rapidly accelerating global transformations that have taken place in recent decades, the past few months have been crucial for observing and anticipating these changes.
“ECLAC needed to develop a work agenda that would allow us to better understand what was happening and what, from a forward-looking perspective, we could see coming in the world, and to build tools to help countries in the region navigate these new circumstances,” he explained.
The report therefore suggests that Latin America and the Caribbean should adopt a pragmatic and functional approach to advance the regional cooperation agenda, seeking minimal agreements on specific issues.
The document includes an analysis and recommendations directly applicable to the Mexican context, highlighting the country’s privileged geographic location, its integration with North America, its advanced manufacturing base, its potential for cutting-edge technologies, the quality of its workforce, and its ability to serve as a bridge between different regions.
The key areas of action relevant to Mexico—identified as nearshoring and value chains, intraregional trade and diversification, critical minerals, and cutting-edge technologies—are the sectors with the greatest potential for implementing measures to drive improvement.
