ECLAC calls for coordinated policies between developed, emerging economies

The complex global economic scenario requires closely coordinated policies between developing and developed countries in order to achieve true equality and sustainability, an official of a regional economic organization said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 36th session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Mexico City, ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena called on Mexico, Argentina and Brazil to push for such coordinated policies at the G20 summit later this year, which will "help safeguard social advances and environmental sustainability."

Pushing for such alliances, Barcena said that the Latin American countries need to offer more help to Caribbean countries.

"We need to join forces, as large and small countries, as northern and southern countries, to ensure an urgent return to global growth and to protect jobs," she said.

On a global scale, the executive secretary called for "sustained urgency in the coordination of our economies, in order to favor a sustained expansion of added value and to prioritize low-carbon projects."

Barcena believes that such improved global governance was necessary to promote stability in emerging economies, and will "help avoid fiscal evasion, which now reaches 6.3 percent of the GDP for Latin America and the Caribbean a year."

Such coordinated policies could also create a new commercial environment, where local firms and people could have easier access to technology and benefit as long as they played by international rules, she said.

The ECLAC's Agenda 2030 needs to play a bigger role in order to achieve sustainable and equal growth, she added.

The agenda outlines how the region should boost productivity through promoting knowledge and innovation-based sectors, sustained and inclusive economic growth, the creation of quality jobs, and the environment-friendly sectors. Endi