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ECLAC expects a recovery in foreign trade in Latin America and the Caribbean this year.

CEPAL prevé una recuperación en el comercio exterior de América Latina y el Caribe este año.

ECLAC projects a 4% increase in the value of goods exports from Latin America and the Caribbean, driven by 5% growth in volume, despite a 1% decrease in prices.

After the decline observed in global trade in 2023, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) noted that a recovery in trade in the region is expected this year. According to the report International Trade Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean 2024: Reconfiguring world trade and options for regional recovery, ECLAC highlighted that in 2023 world foreign trade fell by 1%, but this trend will reverse in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024.

La CEPAL prevé un aumento del 4% en el valor de las exportaciones de bienes en América Latina y el Caribe este año, impulsado por un crecimiento del 5% en el volumen, aunque acompañado de una disminución del 1% en los precios.

En cuanto a las importaciones, se proyecta un incremento del 4% en volumen, con una caída del 2% en los precios, lo que resultará en un aumento del valor del 2%.

A pesar de este escenario de recuperación, la CEPAL advirtió que persisten importantes retos para el comercio en la región, debido a las tensiones geopolíticas y el proteccionismo de algunos países.

José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, secretario Ejecutivo de la CEPAL, destacó que para hacer frente a estos desafíos y aprovechar la reconfiguración de las cadenas globales de valor, la región debe implementar políticas de desarrollo productivo basadas en clústeres, impulsadas por la colaboración público-privada y sostenidas en el tiempo.

Food safety

Despite the growth in trade for this year, ECLAC noted that much remains to be done to achieve food security in the region, in line with UN objectives.

“The report highlights that successive crises in the global economy have caused setbacks in the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goal 2.1, which seeks to eradicate hunger and guarantee access for all people to healthy and sufficient food by 2030,” according to the document.

In 2023, 41 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean faced hunger, representing 6.2% of the population, an increase of 4.7 million compared to 2019.

Inequality in the prevalence of hunger is also a cause for concern. That same year, 30.3% of adult women in the region experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, which represents 5.2 percentage points more than men.

“International trade plays a fundamental role in food security. “Imports facilitate access to foods whose local production is unviable or very expensive due to factors such as climate or lack of technological resources or sufficient land. In addition, exports generate income that can be used to purchase food,” ECLAC concluded.

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