SELA highlights over 60% compliance with the Work Programme this year

The Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) has successfully executed more than 60% of the Work Programme approved for this year, focused on three thematic areas: Economic Recovery, Digitalisation and Social Development, whose projects contribute to integration and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the region. 

During the Preparatory Meeting for the XLVIII Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council, held in Caracas, the Permanent Secretary of SELA, Ambassador Clarems Endara, said that during the year 2022, 35 activities of the Work Programme approved last year were planned, of which 21 activities were executed and 13 were reprogrammed, which represents more than 60% compliance with the goals. 

The tasks of the Work Programme for 2022 were aimed at strengthening productive coordination, boosting the MSME business ecosystem and trade in the region, through the design of public policies to facilitate economic recovery after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. During this year, SELA strengthened its ties with allied organisations and its membership in order to coordinate positions and strategies that contribute value to the development of Latin America and the Caribbean, based on the strengthening of convergence. 

During the last year, SELA has made significant progress in the coordination of the Network of Digital and Collaborative Ports, as well as in the Mapping of productive niches in the Member States. Agreements have been reached with allied organisations to address the vulnerability of food systems in the member countries; the Public Policy Index for SMEs has also been prepared, and the first diploma course for public management of MSMEs with a gender approach has been delivered. It also maintains virtual spaces for the construction of knowledge in areas of common interest such as Circular Economy, Cyberdiplomacy, Digitalisation, Migration and other focal topics to overcome the existing gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

For the Work Programme for the year 2023, SELA intends to carry out more than 40 activities. In the Economic Recovery Area, 21 activities have been programmed focusing on trade facilitation, SMEs, and economic integration. In the Digitalisation Area, 7 activities have been structured for digital transformation and sustainable energy infrastructure, while in the Social Development Area, 15 activities on vulnerability of food systems, migration and integrated disaster risk management have been planned. 

Representatives of Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, among others, took part in this Preparatory Meeting for the XLVIII Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council, where SELA underscored the search for more and better integration through a common regional agenda among blocs for the development of economic policies that contribute to the growth of Latin America and the Caribbean. 

The XLVIII Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council, as the highest decision-making body of SELA, will approve the Work Programme for the coming year, which seeks to promote a concerted regional agenda to make progress in the design of strategies for the development of Latin America and the Caribbean, for more and better integration.