LIMA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) called on Monday for more infrastructure investment in the region to unlock its trading potential and improve integration.
The executive president of the CAF, Luis Carranza, said in Lima that increased investments in infrastructure, logistics corridors, as well as digital and institutional transformations would be crucial "to achieve the relevance and scalability the Latin American market requires to compete amid winds of protectionism."
He added that trade policies developed across the region in recent decades have made it easier for Latin America to integrate itself into global markets, although exports have not significantly increased.
"Logistical deficits, along with other obstacles, affect the speed required by trade flows," said Carranza at a conference on the Pacific Alliance and regional immigration, where he pointed out that global value chains should spur greater regional integration through trade.
"We could increase the productive powers of the economies through a stronger insertion with global value chains, driving production changes and intra-regional trade of final and intermediate products," he added.
Carranza also said that given how important productivity is, the current infrastructure gap in Latin America offers a great opportunity to take a leap forward in quality.
He added that the CAF is pushing for the "driving of logistics corridors of integration ... in areas such as infrastructure, quality services, customs processes, and international shipments."
