High Expectations for World Economic Forum on Latin America

Luis Alvarez is guest blogging for the World Economic Forum. He is  President, EMEA & Latin America at BT and is will be attending the Forum on Latin America in Rio de Janeiro from 27-29 April. Follow him on twitter luis150861   
 
Going to the World Economic Forum is always an interesting experience and I really look forward to this year’s WEF on Latin America in Rio de Janeiro. Under the theme of “Laying the Foundation for a Latin American Decade”, the event is raising a lot of expectations.
 
Personally, I think the Latin American decade already started a few years ago. The resilience of the region to the global economic crisis has been remarkable. When travelling around the region, I could feel the positive spirit in most of the countries, and it reenergised me.
 
This resilience was made possible thanks to the strong focus on reducing poverty, an increased effort in building infrastructures and significant developments in health and education. A larger middle class is fostering economic growth and Latin America is now high in the agenda of most global companies. At the same time “multilatinas”, multinational companies based in Latin American, have emerged as leaders with big ambitions and globally recognised skills.
 
However, there are many challenges to deal with in order to deliver against those high ambitions: rising interest rates, democratic consolidation, increased commodity prices which impact on inflation and, for governments, balancing growth and continuous investments to reduce social divide. Fortunately,  Latin America’s low debt levels (public debt below 45% of GDP) and high reserves (foreign exchanges reserves around $600bn) provide a solid support for the region’s development.
 
We will discuss all this at the WEF of course. We will also share our passion to work together for a prosperous decade and beyond by combining a strong business focus with a real social improvement drive. Watch this space.