{"id":82722,"date":"2026-01-29T20:48:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bahamastradeinfo.gov.bs\/buy\/?p=82722"},"modified":"2026-01-29T20:48:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:48:02","slug":"latin-america-and-the-caribbean-needs-new-diversification-strategies-amid-a-global-shift-in-the-rules-of-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamastradeinfo.gov.bs\/buy\/2026\/01\/29\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean-needs-new-diversification-strategies-amid-a-global-shift-in-the-rules-of-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Latin America and the Caribbean Needs New Diversification Strategies amid a Global Shift in the Rules of Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"International

ECLAC\u2019s Executive Secretary, Jos\u00e9 Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, participated in the panel entitled “Rewriting the Rules of Trade: Challenges and Opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean”, during the International Economic Forum Latin America and the Caribbean 2026 (photo: CAF).<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Global Trade Disruptions Demand New Strategies<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Jos\u00e9 Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, said today that given the current rupture to the international order and the shift in global trade rules, the region needs new strategies in order to diversify and reach agreements with other trade areas in the world.<\/p>\n

The United Nations regional commission\u2019s highest authority participated in the first day of the\u00a0International Economic Forum Latin America and the Caribbean 2026: How to position the region on the global stage?<\/a>, organized by CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and the government of Panama, in Panama City.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs spoke on a panel entitled\u00a0Rewriting the Rules of Trade: Challenges and Opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean<\/strong>, along with Amparo L\u00f3pez Senovilla, Secretary of State for Trade of Spain; Gonzalo Guti\u00e9rrez, Secretary General of the Andean Community; and V\u00edctor Orlando Bison\u00f3, Minister of Industry, Trade and MSMEs of the Dominican Republic (2020\u20132026) and current Minister of Housing, Habitat and Buildings. The segment was moderated by Gabriela Fr\u00edas, journalist and presenter for news channel CNN en Espa\u00f1ol.<\/p>\n

Diversification Is Central to Trade Resilience<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWe need to have a more diversified portfolio, both in terms of export products as well as export destinations and markets and trading partners,\u201d Salazar-Xirinachs emphasized.<\/p>\n

He noted that, as ECLAC has been saying in recent months, Latin America and the Caribbean must escape the trap of low capacity for growth in which it is caught.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat requires strategies in specific sectors; how to take advantage of strategic minerals, of certain strategic sectors: medical devices, modern services, etc. The new geopolitical conversation, which is a rivalry for industrial and technological leadership, is largely a conversation about strategies in specific sectors,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

With regard to international trade negotiations, ECLAC\u2019s Executive Secretary stressed that the great benefit of multilateral rules is that, to the extent that the major powers submit to the rules of trade, certainty prevails.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything multilateral is desirable for medium-sized countries and even for middle powers. Integration is fundamental. We don\u2019t have to look to Asia or Europe alone. We are sitting in a market of 660 million people (in our region); that is a gigantic potential driver of growth,\u201d he indicated.<\/p>\n

Regional Integration Offers Untapped Potential<\/strong><\/h3>\n

He added that while many major powers are engaged now in a game of \u201cweaponized interdependence\u201d \u2013 which includes tariffs, interventions, penalties in financial matters, in other words all those economic mechanisms in which unilateral measures are used \u2013 Latin America and the Caribbean is best served by deepening its integration, which is critical.<\/p>\n

He recalled that South America\u2019s intraregional trade is around 13-14% of that subregion\u2019s total trade. The comparable figure in Central America is 25%, whereas Mexico exports more than 80% to the United States, which entails another economic reality.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs also specified that the region must not only focus on its assets related to natural resources or nature \u2013 such as strategic minerals, agriculture, overall biodiversity, tourism \u2013 but also on the existing productive capacities that the region has built, such as clusters of medical devices, the aeronautical and software industries, ecosystems of technological start-ups, etc.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a structure of production and technological knowledge in many Latin American countries that was not provided by nature or the subsoil. We have many lessons from countries that were able to build more of those productive capacities,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut none of this is going to happen spontaneously. Strategies are needed. Some are national strategies and others will require collaboration between different governments and the private sector. The diagnosis is clear. The issue is \u2018how\u2019 to do it and having the political will to carry it out,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

Source: ECLAC<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Given the current rupture to the international order and the shift in global trade rules, the region needs new strategies in order to diversify and reach agreements with other trade areas in the 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