Activities of the Commissions

President Jiang Zemin of China Speaks at ECLAC

During the course of his visit to Chile and Latin America, President Jiang Zemin of China visited the ECLAC Secretariat in Santiago, on 6 April. The Chinese President delivered a speech on that occasion, in the Raul Prebisch Conference Room, on the theme: “Let us Work Together For a New Era of Friendly Cooperation Between China, Latin America and the Caribbean.”

In his speech, President Jiang Zemin called for a revival of the “Maritime Silk Route Across the Pacific Ocean” and highlighted the following aspects aimed at strengthening the relationship between China and Latin America: (a) Make full use of existing mechanisms for intensifying dialogue and cooperation, such as Rio Group, in the spirit of South-South Cooperation; (b) In the international forums and organizations, such as the UN, the Asia-Pacific Forum for Economic

President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China meeting with ECLAC's Executive Secretary, Mr. Jose A. Ocampo, during his visit to ECLAC on 6 April 2001. The Chinese President delivered an address to Latin America during his visit to ECLAC on the subject of “Let us work together for a new era of friendly cooperation between China, Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Cooperation, the Group of 77, and the East Asian-Latin American Forum (EALAF) should intensively develop consensus and broaden cooperation; (c) Broaden economic cooperation and trade in favour of common development based on mutual benefits and reciprocity; and (d) Establish relations of broad and integrated cooperation to face the future and from a long-term perspective

The remarks of Executive Secretary, Mr. Jose A. Ocampo, on the occasion cited the growing trade relations between China and the ECLAC region. China's share of Asian-Pacific imports from Latin America and the Caribbean has risen by nearly 7 percent during the past decade. The increase is even larger in the case of exports. He complimented China's policy of openness to trade, which has turned the country into one of the major beneficiaries of foreign direct investment in the world amounting to some US $320 billion. He also recalled China's prudent economic management during the recent Asian financial crisis. He called for strengthened economic and trade relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean.

ECLAC employment study recommends re-evaluation of “Maquiladora” industry

A recent study by ECLAC, “The Economic Modernization and Employment in Latin America: Proposals for Inclusive Development”, considers the expansion of low productivity activities in the informal sector, and the need to create productive, permanent jobs in the formal sector of Latin American economies.

The challenge involves creating modernized small- and medium-sized enterprises (PYME's). The study points out that PYMEs should not be considered solely a “social sector”, whose role is to generate employment for less favoured groups within the general population, with competitiveness depending solely on low wages and precarious working conditions, such as the ‘maquiladoras’. According to the study, despite its justified criticism, the maquila could have a positive effect that to date only a few countries have recognized and exploited. For example, in Honduras, over a decade, these companies generated some 95,000 new jobs in industry, more than the manufactured import substitution policy was able to create in three decades.

A joint ECLAC/World Bank seminar, “National Strategic Studies on Climate Change”, held in Santiago on 20-21 March 2001, focused on issues such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and its regional impact.

The CDM seeks to develop opportunities for reducing the costs of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions faced by industrialized countries in order to meet reduction targets they are committed to in the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997. The seminar also hosted a debate on how the general cost of meeting Kyoto targets can be significantly reduced if developing countries can contribute through the CDM mechanism. Among the region’s countries, the main interest is to develop this kind of mechanism in order to capture new investment, which brings with it significant benefits in the areas of energy efficiency, technology, and regional forestry resources.

To provide more information on activities and publications on gender equity, ECLAC’s Women and Development Unit, recently launched a new web page within the general ECLAC web site, “http://www.eclac.cl/mujer”, which features a “web-only” database which will be constantly updated with regional indicators on gender. The page also offers the most current information available on governmental, academic and civil society activities affecting women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In recent months, ECLAC has been active in promoting the signing of the Facultative Protocol of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); institutionalising a gender focus within national policies; holding, in co-operation with FAO, an expert meeting, on the situation of rural women (January 2001); and, measuring domestic violence in Trinidad and Tobago (February 2001).

The first meeting of the Americas Statistics Conference took place at ECLAC's headquarters in Santiago on 9-11 May 2001. The Conference, which is a subsidiary body of ECLAC, aims to contribute to the progress of statistics-related policies and activities throughout the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The purpose of the first meeting was to promote the development of national statistics, their improvement and their international comparability, with a focus on the recommendations of the United Nations' Statistics Commission and other relevant specialized bodies and organizations. It agreed to prepare a two-year program of cooperation that, subject to the available resources, will respond to the demands of the countries of the region.

“From Industrial Economics to Digital Economics: an Introduction to the Transition”, which includes some of the research that the Commission is currently conducting on the digital economy, examines the differences between the Industrial-based Economy (bricks and mortar) and the Digital Economy (clicks), using an innovative perspective that helps us to understand the transition.

It defines the knowledge-based or “Information Society” as an economic and social system in which the generation, processing and distribution of knowledge and information are the sources of productivity, power and prosperity. While in an Industrial Economy societies face issues of scarcity, in the Digital Era the flood of data produces new difficulties, given that our ability to process it remains limited. The economy evolves through the synergies that emerge from world inter-connectivity since the more we interact through the Internet, the more we learn.

ECLAC has joined efforts with DESA and UNEP to organize the regional preparatory process in Latin America and the Caribbean for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, consisting of four subregional, leading to a regional Conference.

The first subregional meeting was the one for the Southern Cone and Brazil, held in Santiago, Chile on June 14 and 15, and the second subregional meeting for the Caribbean was held in La Habana, Cuba, on June 28 and 29. The dates and site for the other two subregional meetings are to be determined.

ECLAC and UNEP carried out relevant consultations with the Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean and decided to convene the Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Summit on 23-24 October 2001, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, back to back with the XIII Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean.

In March 2001, two seminars were held at ECLAC, both related to the effects of the international financial crisis on emerging countries. One seminar was on “A Broad Agenda of Crisis Prevention and Response: Addressing Global Economic Imbalances in the North and Boom-Bust Cycles in the South”, and it analyzed policy options for developing countries to prevent crisis and counter boom-bust cycles, as well as options for advanced nations to address current and future global economic imbalances. The seminar was organized by the Forum on Debt and Development, with the co-sponsorship of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IDRC, ECLAC, IMF and UNCTAD.