The first summit of the leaders of the Association for Economic Prosperity (APEP) begins tomorrow in Washington, where President Joe Biden will reaffirm the commitment of the United States to our region around three specific priorities: economic growth, social inequality and irregular migration. .

This hemispheric dialogue represents an opportunity for our country to commit to necessary and urgent investments and alliances of international cooperation that are, at the same time, concrete and sustainable.

Our continental hemisphere suffers from intra-regional disintegration characterized by fragmentation, political-ideological polarization and double dependence on the United States and China, which forces every Latin American country to define strategic foreign policy priorities in constant tension. However, we share a common reality: a structural reduction in economic growth, the region is recording an average growth of 1.3%; deepening social inequality, 207 million people are in income poverty, which represents 32.4% of the population in the region; and the impossibility of curbing the growing migration flows: the total number of migrants in the countries of America is 73.5 million people.

In this first dialogue, the United States proposes a hemispheric agenda toward economic prosperity; in which it aligns its industrial policy towards the progressive decarbonization of the production system with its program of investment and economic cooperation. To improve regional competitiveness, commercial links would be strengthened through supply chains with sustainability and diversity standards, which encourage job creation, transition to formal employment and investment in training new skills for strength; as well as environmental protection, in order to accelerate the transition to clean energy and energy efficiency. Sustainable and inclusive economic growth that enables the creation of the necessary conditions of well-being in each country, and thus the reduction of migration flows in the region.

In the context of the summit, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in cooperation with the United States of America, is holding today a multilateral meeting on responsible investment, with the aim of mobilizing public and private financing for sustainable infrastructure projects in value chains in three strategic and priority industries: semiconductors, clean energy and medical supplies. The Bank recently announced a financing tool that rewards countries for achieving sustainable standards; In the first phase, up to USD 1 billion in loans will be approved for up to 10 projects, which will benefit from up to 5% subsidies for achieving environmental goals.

This summit represents a new opportunity for the establishment of joint continental responsibility, which is distinguished by the constructive pragmatism of a less demagogic and more oriented political leadership. (OR)