(20 July 2012) The 13th Summer School on Latin American Economies, which is organized by ECLAC annually, was opened today by Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, who shared with the students some of the issues that ECLAC is currently working on in the build up to its forthcoming session, which is due to be held from 27 to 31 August in El Salvador.
In San Salvador, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will present a new document entitled Structural Change for Equality: An Integrated Approach to Development. This study is the continuation of proposals made in 2010 to establish the topic of equality as a key item on countries' development agenda.
Ms Bárcena, who provided students with a complete overview of the economic and social situation of Latin America and the Caribbean, including lessons learned, the region's assets and weaknesses and the challenges linked to structural change, stated "We need to transform the production structure to achieve greater equality, and this must be done in an environmentally sustainable way".
According to Ms Bárcena, "the State must take decisive action so that the region's countries can transform their production structure". She explained that the export basket of Latin America and the Caribbean has not changed significantly over the last few decades, while industrial sectors with greater added value (which generate better jobs) are not among the main exporters.
The ECLAC Executive Secretary of this United Nations Regional Commission affirmed that "a structural change is needed to close productive and social gaps." She was accompanied by Mario Cimoli, Director of the Production, Productivity and Management Division responsible for the Summer School, Osvaldo Sunkel, President of the CEPAL Review and Mario Castillo, Coordinator of the ECLAC@LIS2 Project.
The new ECLAC document tackles three types of policy: industrial, macroeconomic and social. This was explained by the Executive Secretary as she introduced some of the main themes that will be discussed at the Thirty-fourth session, which will be held in the Salvadoran capital.
This year, the Summer School students (12 men and 12 women) come from 10 countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Spain and Venezuela.
The course, which began in 2000, is targeted at post-graduate students interested in analyzing and understanding the Latin American development process.
The programme includes a series of classes and seminars delivered by ECLAC experts and economists, which will discuss issues such as productive development and the role of structural change in sustaining growth, employment and improving income distribution.
At the opening of the course, which will end on 30 September, the students were able to introduce themselves and their interest in finding out more about the work of ECLAC.
Any queries should be sent to the ECLAC Public Information and Web Services Section.
E-mail: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56 2) 210 2040.
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