REGION: LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
BACKGROUND
In the context of economic globalization, Latin American and Caribbean countries face a new international order, highly interdependent and characterized by the incorporation of increasingly complex issues into development processes, such as global environmental concerns, sustainable and competitive pattern of growth, innovation, new technologies, social equity and institutional governance. However, issues related to trade liberalization and new ones, like those arising from environmental concerns are currently managed under separate and complex legal regimes that need to be integrated.
Sustainable development is a process that seeks an adequate balance between economic growth, environmental protection and social equity in the medium and long term horizons. A number of changes occurring in the international environment are relevant for a progressive movement toward sustainable development objectives in Latin American and Caribbean countries, and call for a more integral approach, recognizing the importance of trade rules in transmitting these changes.
It is quite reasonable to expect that trade rules regarding investments and intellectual property rights are key for translating export growth into enhanced welfare gains that are not only spread equitably across society, but also lead to structural transformations allowing for an efficient and rational use of natural resources and ecosystems. In addition, developments in areas like foreign investment, innovation and technological development generate important challenges for sustainable development in all the countries of the region. These issues have become the critical factors that explain, in principle, not only the kind of international trade pattern that has emerged in Latin American and Caribbean countries, but also the available options and policy spaces for addressing challenges related to competitiveness, equity, institutional development and environmental protection..
OBJECTIVES OF THE CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS
The workshops address the question of how international trade rules and particularly provisions regarding investments and intellectual property rights, impact the Latin American and Caribbean region, and discuss the specific conditions that these rules and provisions must fulfill in order to become effective instruments for achieving objectives in the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development.
TARGETED AUDIENCE
The workshop is aimed at staff from public institutions, responsible for the preparation, adoption and implementation of policies related to trade and investment agreements, environmental norms and instruments and to biodiversity and intellectual property rights issues.
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