SANTO DOMINGO - The United States proposed to Latin America on Thursday to "work together" to diversify supply chains, following the arrival in Washington of leaders for a regional development summit.
"The United States works with allies on what I call friendshoring, which is diversifying supply chains with a variety of reliable allies and partners," said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during a Responsible Investment Forum co-organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
We must seize "this unique opportunity to work together more closely" in this area because "it brings tremendous benefits for growth" in Latin America and the Caribbean, he said.
"Diversification provides not only the opportunity for a significant increase in trade but also innovation," such as in semiconductors, the Treasury Secretary specified.
Latin America and the Caribbean "have a unique opportunity, which is part of the solution to our shared difficulties at a global level," said IDB President Ilan Goldfajn.
Opportunities
"The opportunity is there, but we have to take advantage of it," he insisted.
One of the opportunities is to be a source of clean energy for the world.
The region is home to twice as many renewable energy sources as other areas, two-thirds of the world's lithium, and a large amount of copper, all essential for the energy transition.
Both spoke before the presidents of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, Chile, Gabriel Boric and Peru, Dina Boluarte, as well as before the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Alicia Bárcena, among others.
They are all members of the Alliance for Economic Prosperity in the Americas (APEP), along with the United States, Colombia, Panama, Canada and Barbados.
Latin American countries "are making an attempt to open up to the world" with varying degrees of success, but when US President Joe Biden launches a summit and "sets an agenda, it moves the rest," both the public and private sectors, Lacalle Pou stated during the forum.
The leaders stressed the importance of moving from theory, from "diagnoses," as Abinader said, to "facts" with "specific projects" because "what we middle-income countries need is to work together on prosperity, on development, on new technologies, on semiconductors," Abinader said.
Although grateful for Biden's initiative, launched in 2022 at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, the leaders believe that the relationship with Washington leaves much to be desired.
"The United States has lost influence in Latin America in recent years, and the way to regain it is not through hegemony, but through collaboration," the Chilean president stated.
Chile is concerned about "protectionism in the world" in general and, with respect to the United States, "the consequences that Biden's inflation reduction law, which offers large subsidies to companies operating in US territory, may eventually have," Boric said.
Costa Rican Rodrigo Chaves criticizes Washington for treating "all countries in the region without sufficient differentiation in the economic aspect" because some are fulfilling "their task".
"Open Windows"
The summit is generating numerous expectations.
"It must help improve trade flows in an interconnected world," said Boluarte, who, like the other participants, insisted that it not remain a dead letter but focus on "concrete and effective solutions" with a "pragmatic" vision.
Lasso hopes that security will also be discussed because, although there are no conflicts between countries in the region, there is "a common enemy which is drug trafficking and human trafficking", illegal mining and violence in prisons and on the streets.
The Mexican foreign minister also mentioned the environment and migration, two problems that all countries deal with.
Biden's advisor for the Americas, Christopher Dodd, attended the forum.
"No single country can solve any problem, and there are many," he said, describing APEP as a new platform designed "to address issues of the future.".
Dodd is optimistic: "There are windows that open and windows that close" but "we are in a moment of open windows" for growth in the 21st century.
