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Americas Competitiveness Forum Debates Infrastructure

The Americas Competitiveness Forum, which is taking place this week in Panama City, Panama, today hosted several panel discussions with experts on the central theme of the Forum, "Infrastructure and Technology Shaping the Countries of Today."

The starting point of the discussion, which began after the opening ceremony attended by the President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American (OAS) Albert Ramdin, and the Executive Secretary of Economic Affairs and Competitiveness of the Ministry of the Presidency of Panama, Kristelle Getzler, were the ten General Principles to strengthen competitiveness in the Americas. Also discussed was the second "Signs of Competitiveness in the Americas" 2013 Report, presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Competitiveness Network (RIAC), and based on the same ten principles.

The first panel of the day focused on providing a "Regional Overview of Infrastructure and Logistics," focused on the question "What are the achievements, challenges and areas of opportunity?” Panel moderator Robert Puentes from the Brookings Institution said, “we need to start to recognize that the locus of economic strength across the world is starting to shift." In this new world, he said, "Infrastructure is the backbone of a healthy economy. Connectivity remains critical in our modern economies where so much relies on the movement of goods and people between metropolitan areas."

Antonio Juan Sosa, Vice President of Infrastructure at the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), said the institution for which he works is producing a paper on the situation, prospects and opportunities for infrastructure in Latin America, which will be presented on October 18. In the report, said Sosa, four areas are identified that constitute the "most urgent needs" in infrastructure in the region: the need to improve urban public transport, expand the coverage of drinking water production, improve road safety and increase broadband in almost all countries of the region.

The Minister for Canal Affairs and responsible for the Panama Metro Secretariat, Robert Roy, explained the main reasons for the success of the Panama Canal since the country assumed control of the infrastructure. Among them, he stressed the independence of the body in control, which allows it to stay free from political conflicts, and the fact that all profits go to the government. Therefore, said Minister Ro, "politicians have no incentive to interfere with the Canal, when 100 percent of the money is returned to the government." Among the challenges facing the Canal in the future, he mentioned named the competition offered by the Suez Canal, other canals planned in Central America, the overland route across the United States and the Arctic route.

Robbert Jan Van Trooijen , Maersk CEO for Latin America and the Caribbean , explained the reasons why Panama is important for the multinational company , mentioning among them its central location in the region and the willingness of the government to create a good environment for investment. When trading in the region began to grow rapidly in recent, said Van Trooijen, "the infrastructure was not prepared to support such growth." That led to problems such as congestion in ports and roads, and an accelerated increase in costs. On the positive side, the Maersk CEO for Latin America and the Caribbean highlighted the Panama Canal expansion, and large investments in ports in Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica, among other trends.

Meanwhile, the CEO of COPA Airlines, Pedro Heilbron said that "17 major airports in Latin America have been defined as congested or very congested," which he related to the rapid growth of economies in the region recent years, particularly in Brazil , where the number of airline passengers has doubled in just five years. That trend across the region generates "a lot of pressure on airport infrastructure," thus he concluded that "there is a need for a lot more investment in runways and boarding gates," and "increased investment in new technologies to decrease air congestion" and "much closer coordination between airport operators, regulators, governments, and airlines."

Chelsea White, National Chair of Transportation and Logistics in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech University in the United States, spoke of the features that distinguish the Americas as a region in terms of infrastructure, including the existence of what he called "two different networks " that bring trade to the two coasts of the continent and the need to comply more strictly with trade agreements. Looking ahead, he emphasized the possibility that the Panama Canal expansion could change transport networks not only in the region, but globally.

The forum also included a panel on "The Challenge of the Region: Education," moderated by CNN en Español presenter Glenda Umana and focused on the question "What do we need to graduate a skilled and better-trained population for the challenges of the 21st century?"

The Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the OAS, Sherry Tross, noted that the issue of education is an area in which the Organization has decades of experience, given its role as a "pillar for growth and stability." The senior OAS official cited as an example of the work of the Organization the Virtua Educa program, an initiative led by the OAS for the realization and strengthening of innovative projects in education and human development in 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. "We see education as fundamental and basic to everything we do in terms of democracy, human rights, security and development," said Executive Secretary Tross.

Jamil Salmi, a higher education expert, consultant in higher education issues for governments and universities and former World Bank official, emphasized the role of education in developing countries and cited South Korea to show the effects of investing heavily in education in a short time. At the same time, he explained that older models will not serve to transform the systems of the region today. "The most important thing about this forum is that you yourself develop your vision for the future, do not wait for someone else to do it ," he said. In conclusion, he recalled the words of the Roman philosopher Seneca, who quoted : "There is no favorable wind for those who do not know where they want to go."

The Rector of INCAE Business School in Costa Rica, Arturo Condo, said the great challenge of the region in education is quality. That problem is expressed in several ways, explained Condo, including the lack of talent for innovation, a paradigm that teaches the same to everyone without taking into account the different geographical needs, or the needs of the labor market, and the growing gap between private and public education. As possible responses to these shortcomings, he cited the possibility of facilitating informal education systems, training people according to the needs of the country or region, using technology education that dramatically lower costs, and attracting investment in the education system, among other responses.

Meanwhile, Lucy Molinar, Minister of Education of Panama, stressed the importance of " bringing life back to school" so that the perception schools is that of "places where you have the opportunity to develop" and to making students see their time in school as more than a task to fulfill. Also, the Minister stressed the importance of government support for teachers, and that Ministries of Education take decisions that may not be popular, but that are right for the students. She also spoke of the need for dialogue among educators, students and the government for each group to get to know the concerns and difficulties of the others.

"Macroeconomic challenges" was the topic of another panel, moderated by Inés Bustillo , Director of the Office of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) of the United Nations in Washington, DC . In this session, panelists discussed various creative methods to boost the infrastructure of the future while maintaining macroeconomic stability. The participants in the debate were Juan Temístocles Montás, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development of the Dominican Republic; Frank de Lima , Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama; Roberto Siphón-Arevalo, Director for Latin America of Sovereign Rating Standard and Poors, and Gregory Makoff, Managing Director and Head of International Debt Management for Citibank.

The last panel of the day provided a "Global Perspective on Infrastructure Policy," and was moderated by William Bates, Executive Director of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC). Participants in this session were Robert Barbour, Chief Executive of the Center for Competitiveness of Ireland; Nicolas Ardito Barletta, General Manager of the National Competitiveness Center of Panama, and Catherine Beard, Executive Director ManufacturingNZ and ExportNZ of New Zealand.

The Seventh Americas Competitiveness Forum runs until tomorrow, Friday, October 4, and primarily aims to facilitate the development of business and enable the exchange of ideas and knowledge to make the countries of the Americas more innovative, productive and competitive, and thus to improve the living standards of their inhabitants.

A gallery of photos of the event will be available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-370/13