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THIRD BUSINESS SUMMIT EUROPEAN UNION - LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
On 16th and 17th of May, the CEOE in collaboration with BusinessEurope, organized the Third EU–LAC Business Summit, in Madrid, in the framework of the Heads of State and Government Summit from the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Summit, which was attended by over 600 businessmen from both areas, has been useful to reflect on several matters of common interest, as could be trade relations and negotiations with Central America, Andean Community and Mercosur; infrastructures; energy and innovation.
Also, in parallel sessions it could be held a debate about the current situation and outlook overview on Latin America and the Caribbean economies and also on financing of business projects by International Organizations, such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Andean Development Corportation (CAF, by its initials in Spanish).
The Prime Minister of Portugal, José Socrates, The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, the President of Perú, Alan Gárcía, the President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, the President of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe and the Vice-President of Uruguay, Danilo Astori, have attended this Business Summit. Among these important speakers, high-ranking officials from IDB, CAF, OECD, Mercosur European Business Forum (MEBF), Secretariat of Economic Integration of Central America (SIECA, by its initials in Spanish), General Secretariat of Latin America (SEGIB, by its initials in Spanish), European Commission, European Parliament, Spanish Administration and Employers Organizations and companies from Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean have also attended the Summit.
The principal findings drawn from the Summit are collected in a Memorandum, which has been presented to the Heads of State and Government from both areas and which admits, among other issues, the importance of the reinforcenment of bilateral trade relations, by accessing to markets, that offers a unique opportunity to consolidate even more the process of trade liberalizations and the attraction of foreign investment, the trade expansion and the competitiveness and business climate improvement.
When referring to infraestructures, it is stated the need of a lasting infrastructure network as a key factor to stimulate growth and sustainable development. Public-private alliance systems, technical assistance and project viability studies are important elements to help development of these networks. Also, the Latin America Investment Facility (LAIF) is a good initiative to promote infrastructure investments in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the area of innovation it is clear that information and communication technologies (ICT's) play a transforming role in society, and become a competitive advantage. In order to achieve this, education, human capital investment and closer collaboration among research centres, universities and the private sector are essential.
In the energy aspect, the challenge is to solve the "energy equation": security of supply, competitiveness and sustainability. In order to do that, we have to make the best use of all generation technologies and ensure proper functioning of the markets. The bid for nenewable energy must be firm. We have to obtain benefit from the hydraulic resources, an d also obtain benefit from existing high-value assets such as nuclear power stations.