Brasília – Economic integration between Latin American and Caribbean countries will make the region more competitive at the international level, as well as encourage growth in the long run, the World Bank concluded in its report Toward a Renewal of Economic Integration in Latin America released this Tuesday (14) in Washington DC.
Integration is particularly relevant to the region since it’s recovering after a two-year long recession, the World Bank says. It adds that since the 1960s, the region is working on integration, and it redoubled its efforts since the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, intraregional exports in Latin America have stubbornly remained at 20% of total exports, which pales in comparison to 60% in the European Union or 50% in East Asia and the Pacific, according to the report.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
