In 2015 China’s two development banks provided upwards of $29 billion in loans to Latin American governments with the promise of more to come. The problem is the region has no mechanism to constructively engage China to help direct and manage these funds. Here’s an idea.
What does the trade war and the flurry of mega-trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)—the first excluding China, the second including China, but excluding the U.S.—mean for global trade and the future of the World Trade Organization?
Personal contacts and questionable contracts between the government and the Chinese company CAMC Engineering reveal both the problems with public procurement in Bolivia and how far Chinese companies have advanced in the country.
Experts and pundits have decided that education is the magic bullet to cure most of Latin America’s ills. Problem is: it’s a long term bet, with no known solutions and too many people working on the edges.
Latin America and Caribbean negotiators arrived at the global climate talks in Paris with ambitious plans. But without international development financing, those ideas will amount to little.
Capitalism does need to be saved from its own excesses in Chile, but few public leaders today have the moral authority to do so.
The scandal over price fixing by private cartels that produce toilet paper has left Chileans believing that their market is unfair and going down the toilet.
Brazil needs to find its place in the new era of “reglobalization” currently underway, marked by plurilateral trade agreements such as the TPP and the EU-U.S. TTIP process.
Should Latin America continue to put all its eggs in the commodity basket hoping for a return of the good times? Of course not. The region must diversify its economic base to focus on manufacturing and services as well. In the meantime, the agricultural sector needs greater unity across the sector to improve productivity, efficiency, and innovation.
The recent agreement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is about far more than trade. It’s about creating a new international regime in the Pacific that will reinforce trade rules, smooth inter-state relations and promote international harmony with China.