The Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) concluded a week of meetings with prominent politicians and senior representatives of organizations in the region, in line with its objective of promoting intra-regional trade, a fundamental element for integration.
In this framework, the Secretary General of the organization, Sergio Abreu, met with the Vice President of Brazil, Hamilton Mourão, in a meeting of great interest for the region, since the Brazilian leader heads the Chinese High-Level Commission for Consultation and Cooperation -Brazilian (COSBAN).
investment for trade
On the other hand, Abreu held a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Carlos Alberto Franco França, in which they discussed issues related to infrastructure in the region; digital ports; SMEs; cooperatives; trade and the current international context.
“Without investment there is no trade, without trade there is no employment, and without employment there is no social peace”, summarized Abreu after the meeting with Franco França. “The question we ask ourselves is how do we help SMEs in the region, which lost more than 30 million jobs in the pandemic,” he added. The answer, Abreu argued, lies in digital.
“ALADI seeks to have a presence with digital instruments to advance in the integration process”, such as the Latin American SMEs Large Business platform, “with tools specially designed for regional SMEs, directly attending to their needs and promoting their participation in intra-regional trade . Brazil will surely generate an important contribution in this sense”, said Abreu.
important challenges
On the other hand, on his first official tour, the Ibero-American Secretary General, Andrés Allamand, visited the ALADI headquarters, where he gave a conference on the role of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the challenges of the region after the pandemic. Allamand explained that in Ibero-America there are “significant challenges” to address. One of the most important is the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. In this regard, he said that the pandemic “hit the region unbalanced”, which needs “a different economic recovery”. In this sense, he argued that the recovery must be politically inclusive, socially viable and environmentally sustainable.
He mentioned growth as another challenge, and pointed out that ALADI “has a lot to contribute”. Because of his concern regarding the digital divide and intra-regional trade. In turn, he asked to “work to attract investment” and build trust in institutions and people.
Finally, Abreu expressed the importance of working to reduce the productive, digital and social gap.
