The Inter-American Development Bank will host a conference on Friday, April 12, in San Salvador on competitiveness in Central America and the Dominican Republic.
El Salvador President Francisco Flores and IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias are due to take part in the one-day forum, which will be held at the Hotel Camino Real Inter-Continental. Other participants will include the region’s top economic officials, bankers, business leaders, academics and civil society representatives.
Finance ministers Alberto Dent of Costa Rica, Juan José Daboub of El Salvador, Eduardo Weymann of Guatemala, Arturo Alvarado of Honduras, Eduardo Montealegre of Nicaragua and Norberto Delgado Durán of Panama are scheduled to participate, as well as Belize Planning Minister Ralph Fonseca and Dominican Republic Central Bank Governor Francisco Guerrero Prats. U.S. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade and Investment Policy Joseph Engelhard will be the luncheon keynote speaker.
During the event participants will discuss the challenges this region faces in improving its climate for business and possible steps to make its economies more competitive. The forum’s panels will analyze issues such as:
- The outlook for strengthening and integrating Central America’s financial systems.
- Public/private cooperation to increase productivity.
- Priorities for investing in the modernization of the region’s infrastructure
- Competitiveness as a tool for improving living standards in Central America.
One of the key speakers at the forum will be Eduardo Lora, principal advisor of the IDB’s Research Department and coordinator of the Bank’s annual report on economic and social progress in Latin America and the Caribbean. The 2001 edition of that IDB report was devoted to the issue of competitiveness.
Central American Bank for Economic Integration President Pablo Schneider and Roberto Artavia, dean of the Central American business school INCAE, are also due to take part in the meeting.