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OAS Assistant Secretary General Calls for Public-Private Partnerships to Promote Growth

The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, today called for a new, more inclusive kind of governance in Latin America and the Caribbean based on the relationship between those who make policies and the private sector to overcome challenges that could impede continued economic growth and a growing influence in the global economy.

Speaking to business executives from throughout the Americas at the annual meeting of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean (AACCLA), Assistant Secretary General Ramdin highlighted that business climate, low investment in human capital and infrastructure, and inequalities continue to be key challenges to accelerating inclusive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. “We urgently need to create a culture of healthy public-private collaboration, where public and private sector leaders work together to tackle these impediments to growth and poverty reduction,” he said.

Ambassador Ramdin highlighted that the region has a serious deficit in the area of innovation and education, and added that with prospects of slower growth rates, the region needs to improve productivity, infrastructure, and transport. In addition, he said, logistics accounts for an additional 18% to 35% of product value compared to just 8% in the OECD countries. “When you also add the costs associated with the current insecurity trend, businesses from the region are disadvantaged and less competitive compared to those in other parts of the world,” said Ramdin.

Assistant Secretary General Ramdin shared the panel with Jodi Bond, Vice President of the Americas at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; John Maisto, Director of the U.S. Education Finance Group; Thomas McLarty, CEO of McLarty Associates, and Ernesto Talvi, Director of the Latin America Initiative at Brookings Institution.

Highlighting the need to work on transformative education, and skills training to fuel the region’s middle class, Assistant Secretary General Ramdin praised the AACCLA for including a panel on the global talent pool in this year’s meeting.

The OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Development Jorge Saggiante, who moderated the panel “Latin America in the Global Talent Pool,” was a member of the Steering Committee which guided the scope of the study "Global Talent 2021" prepared by the prestigious consulting firm, Oxford Economics, and co-presented by the OAS on September 20 in Mexico City. The study, based on a survey of 352 large companies in 46 countries, highlights trends in talent development in selected Latin American and Caribbean countries in ten years time, and how these countries fare in comparison to other parts of the world in terms of talent surpluses or deficits. Specifically, the report confirms that there will be growing talent surpluses in the countries of the South (developing or emerging countries), as more skilled workers will be produced than job opportunities in general. In contrast, the countries of the North will face growing talent deficits as the result of various demographic and economic factors.

Secretary Saggiante said that “the OAS has been using the study's findings as an input into our high-level political dialogues related to development, including on education, labor, science and technology.” “We are also promoting dialogue on public policies among public-academic-private sectors in the countries in the hemisphere that are included in the study,” said Saggiante. The study will also be presented at the upcoming Sixth Americas Competitiveness Forum to be held in Cali, Colombia, on October 24 - 26, 2012.

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

Reference: E-346/12