Background

The global poly-crisis (COVID-19, armed conflicts and climate-change induced catastrophes) has severely impacted livelihoods worldwide. Unemployment, poverty and hunger have increased as a result. In parallel, a series of megatrends are transforming production processes, further complicating the prospects for recovery in developing countries. These megatrends include, among others, the acceleration of technological change in the digital sphere, the transition to renewable energies and the reconfiguration of global value chains. 

In this volatile context, the productive sector plays a pivotal role in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), given the sector’s strong linkages to economic, societal and environmental goals. For Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), facing global challenges and breaking from the trap of low growth and low productivity in which it is mired, will entail building more sophisticated and diversified economies that can bring about virtuous structural change towards a more productive, inclusive and sustainable future. To do so, countries of the region will need to scale up, enhance and rethink their productive development policies. 

UNIDO’s “Industrial Development Report (IDR) 2024” and ECLAC’s “Panorama of Productive Development Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024”, coincide in the urgent need for a renewed approach to industrial and productive development policies and present concrete policy actions and recommendations to prompt productive transformation in the region. 

Co-organized by UNIDO and ECLAC, this event will draw from both reports to discuss the future of policies to foster productive transformation in LAC. The event is expected to provide a platform for policymakers, academia and the private sector to share policies in action across the region. The main goal of the event is to exchange knowledge and best practices on industrial and productive development policy interventions to drive sustainable development, focusing on innovative approaches and collaborative efforts to tackle the region's unique challenges and opportunities. 

Kindly note that the event will take place in Spanish with no simultaneous translation.

Tentative agenda