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Plumbing for stock markets
Amid the ups and downs of stock investing, one thing is certain: unless brokers have the confidence that they will get their money and buyers will get their stock in a timely way, a securities market cannot attract investors. How to create this essential stock market "plumbing" of efficient regulations and standardized clearance and settlement systems in Latin America and the Caribbean was the subject of an IDB conference last year that has since become the subject of a special report in the magazine Global Custodian. For copies of the special issue, contact Anita Daza at anitad@iadb.org.Communications alliances
A proposal to create a fund that would finance strategic alliances among small- and medium-sized communications firms in Latin America and Europe gained momentum at an international meeting in São Paulo last June. Andrés Bajuk, the IDB's Special Representative in Europe, said the alliances would focus on research and development, but not infrastructure, which is dominated by big multinationals. The "Forum on Global Communications" was organized by the Hispanic-American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunications Enterprises.
Education workshop in Japan
Educational experts from Japan and other East Asian countries met with their counterparts in a special three-day workshop held in June in Okinawa, Japan. The workshop, which was held as part of an IDB forum on Latin America, included visits to local schools. Okinawa was selected as the venue for this event because it has been the departure point for many emigrants to Latin America. The IDB-sponsored event also had the backing of the Japanese government and the Asian Development Bank. The exchange rate debate
The 1999 second quarter edition of the newsletter Latin American Economic Policies, published by the IDB Office of the Chief Economist, examines the debate over exchange rates, with articles by IDB and outside experts on the region's central banks, monetary sovereignty, exchange rate flexibility and crises, and the relationship between flexibility and competitiveness. The newsletter is available in print or on the Bank's homepage at www.iadb.org.
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