Ports in Latin America still largely follow the typical industrial model, functioning as maritime terminals in the sea-land interface and with a greater focus on managing concessions and their own infrastructure. Some of the more modern ports also act as transportation and distribution centers. Today, for ports to play a truly instrumental role in integration and trade, they … [Read more...] about From Ports to Innovation Ecosystems: A Critical Transformation
Trade & Investment Agreements
Korea and Latin America and the Caribbean: Partners for Sustainable Trade and Investment
Trade and investment relations between Korea and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have come a long way. As the two economies embraced trade liberalization in the early 1990s, their bilateral trade grew at an impressive annual rate of 11.5%—reaching a record high of US$57 billion in 2021. The trade boom came along with US$26 billion in investments by Korean firms in the … [Read more...] about Korea and Latin America and the Caribbean: Partners for Sustainable Trade and Investment
Strategies and mechanisms to promote the convergence of trade agreements in Latin America
It is high time that trade integration processes in Latin America achieve convergence between the region’s many bilateral agreements in order to extend the benefits that these bring while extending the originating status of a given good so that it can circulate freely. … [Read more...] about Strategies and mechanisms to promote the convergence of trade agreements in Latin America
Latin American integration: an insurance policy against uncertainty on global market access
Over the last 30 years, in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), preferential trade agreements (PTAs) were the instrument of choice for moving toward more integrated markets. Although PTAs were successful in helping countries to move beyond the limitations of earlier, more inward-looking integration initiatives, their proliferation led to a regulatory architecture that has not … [Read more...] about Latin American integration: an insurance policy against uncertainty on global market access
The Spaghetti Bowl and International Supply Chains
Latin America regional integration can be characterized by the co-existence of multiple trade agreements: there are 33 of these in total, their membership is limited in scope, and they generally act as separate silos which lack important interconnections between them. Common sense indicates that while this “spaghetti bowl” of agreements might encourage production linkages … [Read more...] about The Spaghetti Bowl and International Supply Chains