This country is the sub-regional headquarters of Redlas, dependent on the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), founded in 1951 and serving ten countries: Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
It acts as a center of excellence for technical assistance and research to advise the region’s governments at the highest levels on the design, formulation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies, in addition to providing training for officials in Mexico and Central America.
Hugo Beteta, director of the company in Mexico, opened the meeting, explaining that modern or digital services are the most dynamic segment of global trade and can contribute to regional development, environmental sustainability and financial and digital inclusion.
In Mexico, 43.4 percent of the total labor force is concentrated in services, and in the second quarter of 2023, tertiary activities accounted for 58.2 percent of GDP, while ECLAC forecast a growth of 12 percentage points in the value of regional services exports.
Bateta said that while Mexico has a small direct share of knowledge-based services, it is actually a major indirect exporter of this content in its manufacturing exports to the United States.
For his part, the head of the regional program Alliances for Democracy and Development with Latin America of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Winfred Weck, pointed out that his client regularly works with Cepal and Redlas and suggested involving scientists in the following meetings. Experts and policy makers from Europe and Africa.
Armando Sánchez, director of the Economic Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, stressed that it is essential for academics to establish a link between the productive sector and the government sector in order to implement public policies for the benefit of the population.
The XII. Redlas Conference takes place at UNAM and is open to scientists, government officials and the general public. Panel discussions will be offered on the topics of regional integration in modern services, opportunities for trade agreements and relocations for modern services, their contribution to sustainable development and electronic topics, including trade as a driver of regional integration.
The meeting continues tomorrow with new conferences and panels on the various topics planned.
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