VINA DEL MAR, Chile -(Dow Jones)- Latin American countries should increase public infrastructure integration to reduce transport and energy costs in order to make their economies more competitive, agreed finance ministers from the region.
Infrastructure integration to facilitate trade was one of the key issues discussed at the Second Meeting of Finance Ministers of the Americas and the Caribbean, Chilean Finance Minister Andres Velasco told reporters wrapping up Friday's meeting.
Multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, which are playing a more important role in the region in the wake of the economic crisis, can help toward this objective, said Velasco.
In addition to providing financing for emerging countries, these institutions have agreed to help promote infrastructure integration projects that would reduce transport costs, said Velasco.
Latin America has a comparative disadvantage in transport, with costs between the region and Europe as much as 47 times more than the cost of transporting goods between the U.S. and Europe, said Velasco.
The Inter-American Development Bank has agreed to come up with proposals for increasing transport integration ahead of the organization's next meeting in March 2010, said Velasco.
Previous infrastructure integration projects, such as regional gas pipeline projects, have been abandoned due to lack of political will and regulatory issues.
"We need to pass from a diagnosis to solutions," said Velasco.
-By Julian Dowling, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-820-4241; julian.dowling@dowjones.com
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Publié le 04 Juillet 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones