 Regional cooperation on competition policy is one way to "keep trade going as an engine for development" despite the global financial crisis, a Latin American and Caribbean seminar was told by UNCTAD´s Secretary-General.
The 20-21 April Regional Seminar on Trade and Competition, held in Caracas, Venezuela, was held to review the subject of "future challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean."
The current challenge of the global economic and financial crisis, however, took the forefront. Acknowledging the issue, one objective of the two-day meeting was "to analyze the rationale in favour of a possible regional framework for competition adapted to the current situation of trade and the international financial crisis from the perspective of development."
UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, in his opening remarks, commended recent regional efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean to offer banking and financing alternatives to recently shaky global sources of loans and financing. He similarly noted regional efforts to diversify foreign-exchange reserves so that countries support each other´s currencies.
Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General (UNCTAD) and Ambassador José Rivera Banuet, Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) | |
"Keeping trade going as an engine for development" through mutual support was a good way for nations in this part of the world to protect the substantial economic progress they had made through the 2002-2008 economic boom, Mr. Supachai said. He added that "competition policy should ensure that restrictive business practices do not negate the benefits of trade and investment liberalization.
"Trade liberalization alone is often not enough to maintain an optimal level of competition in all economic sectors," he told the meeting. "A number of trade barriers still exist and new ones are often introduced to compensate for reductions in tariffs and the abolition of quantitative restrictions on trade ... Greater regional cooperation among Latin American and Caribbean countries on competition policy along the lines of the UN Set of Principles on Competition Policy can help to address these issues."
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