MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latam leaders discuss improving education and skills to help diversity economy

“It is just not a question of schooling, it is a question of skills” said Ricardo Hausmann

Political, business and academic leaders gathered for the ninth annual World Economic Forum in Latin America in Panama set out strategies for the region to move beyond dependence on commodity exports and face the challenges of a rapidly changing global economy.

 “We have to both generate wealth and the conditions for the population to access that wealth. The pie must be bigger and it must be divided more equally,” Frank De Lima, Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama, said.

More engineers and more skilled workers will help the region to diversify their economies. “To make our region more productive we have to change our education system,” Brian J. Smith, President, Latin America Group, Coca-Cola Company, Mexico, said. Governments must provide universal and effective basic education, but companies must get involved too.

“It is just not a question of schooling, it is a question of skills,” Ricardo Hausmann, Director, Center for International Development, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, USA, said.

Companies should collaborate with governments, which can compensate them to offer the practical training that modern jobs require. The involvement of parents can help to make education reform a reality, especially if effective government communication convinces them of the need for reform. Reforms in labor laws will attract skilled and talented immigrants, especially from European countries with poor job markets.

Weak infrastructure and onerous bureaucracy is a problem across the region. Large companies often must devote resources to fight these obstacles instead of investing in innovation, while smaller companies often cannot overcome them. Protectionism must be fought, since it leads to inefficiency and isolation, but domestic policies must also adapt to new global competition. “Free trade and economic stability do not by themselves guarantee success,” Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Secretary of Economy of Mexico, said.

Education, energy, tax, and electricity reforms are crucial to modernizing economies. Better infrastructure will spur growth, encourage investment, and create jobs. “We need to have logistical reforms so we are ready for free trade,” Kátia Abreu, President, Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock, Brazil, said.

The program of the World Economic Forum on Latin America focuses on the region’s efforts to maintain economic growth, boost economic diversification, increase productivity, fuel competitiveness, and enhance trade and invest in human capital. Participants are helping to determine how to better address challenges in education, health, infrastructure and technology and will contribute to shaping the region’s economic, social and political agenda.