The Contribution of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to the Physical Integration of Transport Systems in South America: A Historical Overview

For over a quarter of a century, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has been in the vanguard of the search for greater physical integration among South American countries, especially in the area of transport, including road, rail, river and multimodal transport.Its activities in this field have ranged from drafting agreements to the design and introduction of concrete measures and have been carried out, either individually, at the request of the Governments of member States, or in collaboration with other organizations, such as the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL), which is part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The Geography of Brazilian External Trade: Right Option for a BRIC?

Words can make a difference sometimes.Brazil is – together with the other ´BRIC´- a large economy, with an increasingly high profile in the international scenario. Large domestic market makes it more likely to obtain ‘growth-led exports’ rather than ‘export-led growth’, which implies a pro-active role in international relations. The option for intensifying regional trade links is a reasonable one and perhaps even inevitable, taking into account the experience elsewhere, but the actual regional conditions raise a number of questions that have to do both with further empirical assessment and to more specific identification of expectations with regard to probable achievements. This article has shown that the road to reach significant progress in this direction is not flat and requires more clear signalling to economic agents, strong political will and a good deal of specific measures. But it has also suggested that it might provide positive results.