Reinforcing production cooperation and dialogue spaces: the role of SMEs

Foreword by Alicia Bárcena and Jorge Valdez

A call for greater cooperation and dialogue between Latin America and the Caribbean

.--A call for greater cooperation and dialogue between Latin America and the Caribbean.--Latin America and the Caribbean urged to pursue avenues for integration.--ECLAC: Caribbean countries will be negatively affected by Climate Change.--Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean Seek a Regional Consensus on Sustainable Development.--UN-CARICOM Meeting Identifies Regional Priorities.--Latin America and the Caribbean region continues on growth path.--Exports from Latin America and the Caribbean will increase by 27% in 2011

Report of the seminar on Caribbean development thinking the path covered and the way forward

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, and secretariat of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) convened a Seminar on Caribbean Development Thinking: The Path Covered and the Way Forward, in Port of Spain on 21 October 2009. The meeting was attended by representatives of the following CDCC member countries: Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Representatives of the following organizations of the United Nations system also attended: the International Labour Organisation (ILO); Joint United Nations Project on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The following intergovernmental organizations were represented: the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Mechanism/Caribbean Community (CRNM/CARICOM); Delegation of the European Commission in Trinidad and Tobago; the Organisation of American States (OAS); and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The University of the West Indies (UWI) also participated. The list of participants appears as annex I to this report.

report of the workshop on boosting SME development and competitiveness in the Caribbean

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, in collaboration with the Division of Production, Productivity and Management at ECLAC Headquarters in Chile, convened a one-day workshop on “Boosting SME Development and Competitiveness in the Caribbean”, at the Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean in Port of Spain on 14 May 2009. The workshop was the culmination of country studies that were carried out under an Italian Government-funded project to assess the policies, institutions and instruments for dynamic Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) development and competitiveness in Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The aim was to use the lessons learned from the three country studies to inform policy and practice in the other member countries of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC). The main objectives of the workshop were to: (a) share and discuss the findings of the country studies and lessons learned; (b) provide a forum for high quality discussion of the policy environment, instruments, business development and support services required for successful SME development in the Caribbean; and (c) map out a strategy for moving from analysis and recommendation to policy implementation and business changes in order to promote a dynamic and competitive SME sector. The workshop aimed to arrive at practical solutions to major constraints and a weighting of key actions in order of priority of implementation, by adopting a problem-solving approach. Participants at the workshop included representatives of key SME support institutions in the region, actual SMEs and academic researchers. The list of participants and provisional programme are annexed to this report.

The Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas: A Perspective on Latin America and the Caribbean 2015-2016

In this, the sixth in the series of documents entitled “Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas,” the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) analyze the trends in, and outlook for, the macroeconomic and sectoral contexts, agriculture, rural well-being, and policies and the institutional framework in the sector. The document presents proposals for policies needed to enable the region’s agriculture to regain its former buoyancy and to enhance the development of rural areas. It also includes recommendations designed to mitigate the impact of the economic slowdown in agriculture, spur higher agricultural productivity in the region, foster the integrated management of natural resources, and facilitate the successful incorporation of family farmers, young people, and rural women into agricultural value chains.