MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latam to debate controversial issue: 'post Washington Consensus' industrial policies

IDB president Moreno will open the seminar and Ms Rodríguez, manager of the IDB’s Institutions for Development Department, will moderate the debate

The Inter American Development Bank, IDB, has organized a seminar to discuss industrial policies in Latin America and the Caribbean in a post Washington-Consensus framework. Anemic economic growth in the region is in need of policy shot in the arm.

 The debate could become controversial since for over a decade the so called “Washington consensus”, has been described by many of the current governments from the region as the reason for many of the economic, financial and development evils of the region.

The IDB’s 2014 flagship edition “Rethinking Productive Development; Sound Policies and Institutions for Economic Transformation”, makes the case for productive development policies necessary to prosper while avoiding the mistakes of the past.

IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno will open the seminar with an introduction, and Ana María Rodríguez, manager of the IDB’s Institutions for Development Department, will moderate the discussion. The book and the future of industrial policy will be discussed by a panel made up of Ricardo Haussmann of Harvard University, Dani Rodrik of the Institute for Advanced Study, Charles Sabel of Columbia University and Alberto Trejos of Costa Rica’s INCAE Business School.

The role of multilateral development banks will be discussed by the Executive Vice President of CORFO, Chile, Eduardo Bitrán, Senior Director, Global Practice on Trade & Competitiveness at World Bank, Anabel González, and the IDB’s Division Chief for Competitiveness and Innovation, José Miguel Benavente.

The event is scheduled for Thursday 14 May at the IDB headquarters in Washington.