EU–LAC Talk 2: Powering Competitiveness: Investing in Resilient Growth
Meetings & Events
Date: 22 September 2026
Language: English
Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/es/asset/k15/k15sick3xl?lang=en
Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations.

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Speaker 1 [0:01]:

Today we are gathering to discuss a common aspiration and that is to explore how the energy transition can become a driving force for competitiveness, resilience and inclusive growth for Latin America and the Caribbean, strengthening at the same time the strategic links between our region and Europe. Latin America and the Caribbean have huge potential to lead this transformation thanks to our renewable resources, strategic minerals, and entrepreneurial capacity. Throughout this morning, we will address precisely how to accelerate this agenda and how to turn opportunities into projects that are able to drive productivity, resilience, and sustainable development in the region. With these ideas in mind, I invite you to participate in this exchange that, without a doubt, will bring new perspectives to the future of cooperation between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. To open up this morning's discussions, it's my pleasure to give the floor to Michel Muscat, Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Bureau for UNDP, to begin this dialogue.


UNDP · Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director [1:18]:

Thank you very much, Claudia, says Michel. And I just want to thank you and the whole of the SEAPI team for the huge work you've done to organize this important event on the sidelines of this UNGA week. And it's an honor for me as Regional Director of UNDP to welcome all of you to this very relevant bi-regional dialogue between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. I just wanted to join my efforts with you, Nuria, and really connect the great power that multilateralism has with the private sector in our world today, which is a real luxury, in particular at this time in which relations between Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe are of very particular geopolitical relevance. And for these opportunities require deliberate actions to really harness it and turn it into something concrete. So this dialogue begun with a singular effort, an idea last year. And that was so successful that we decided to keep it as a standing event at all UN General Assemblies, given the great value that it has to deliver these conversations. And I think almost poetically, actually, we're meeting for the second consecutive year. And so this meeting that we're having right now is happening in parallel with the opening of the UN General Assembly. You know that there's a busy timetable for The rooms, they're allocated by the Secretariat, so this is very important. While we're having the highest level geopolitical strategic dialogue, we're here in this room looking very specifically and concretely at how to shape this future of multilateralism and development cooperation in Latin America and Caribbean and our relationships with Europe, which are two regions that can play a unique robust role in defining the future of cooperation for development. Dear Fernando, Fernando Carrillo, for those of you that don't know him, he's vice president of the PREISA group, and I can't think of anyone better to moderate and facilitate this conversation. And I see it, Fernando, as a continuation of the meeting that we had last Friday in Biala, Colombia, the Ideas Festival, where we participated with each other on the opening panel. democracies under pressure and the link between democracy and development. That was the event, and it was very relevant for a conversation between two regions that are meeting precisely, among many other things, given the democratic values that unite us. And we can't talk about institutional stability without thinking about economic competitiveness and without thinking also, of course, about the role that the private sector plays. and how it can be a driving force for the just transition, which is what we're discussing today. So I also welcome Delphine Pro, who's with us from the European Union. Your presence brings a lot of experience. and a lot of love and affection for Latin America and the Caribbean. And it also marks how strong this dialogue is between both regions at a multilateral and institutional level. We have Bettina, our regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. And I would be remiss to not also mention the top table headed up all by women. And I'm very proud of that and very satisfied. I also welcome all of the private sector actors who are here with us this morning, dear ARISSIA, IFIs, CAF, and I think this is going to be a very rich dialogue with a lot of different perspectives, and it's great to bring together so many different sectors. This dialogue is taking place at a time of profound transformations. but also huge opportunities for the relationship between Latin America and the Caribbean. The geopolitical dynamics currently and the discussion that's currently taking place in the General Assembly Hall starting in a few minutes is also taking place at a time of a lot of emerging trends of our time, but also unprecedented technological innovation. And this, among many other things, is redefining what we understand by competitiveness and also growth. Given these profound transformations, it's not enough just to adapt. I think that this opens up an opportunity to position ourselves strategically. And that's why today, despite the profound challenges that we all face, we have more evidence, more interdependence, connectivity that we've never had before. And I dare to say that we have never been prepared enough to turn into opportunities for growth. So this discussion between Latin America and the Caribbean is potentially unprecedented. given the values that often today are not forthcoming and that are putting a lot of pressure on our region. Of course, I'm talking about democracy, but also our strong support for multilateralism and deep respect for the rule of law. This is also a promise that is constantly being built and delivered. And Latin American and the Caribbean is, of course, the most democratic developing region in the world, which makes us unique. These values also, in some ways, define competitiveness between the two regions. In the light of these profound transformations, there's no longer just-- we no longer just have a race to the bottom in price for competitiveness. or the health of our planet. We need to ensure that we have a just transition for it to be a true transition. So that's all from UNDP. I'll be very brief, but I just wanted to put on the table how we're going through profound transformations in geopolitics and trade and in terms of our possibilities to achieve competitiveness. Does the development paradigm also in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is undergoing a transition, And if we refer to the most regional report on human development from Latin America and the Caribbean by the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, under the auspices of our chief economist, Ms. Fernandez, who's here in this room, that analyzes how our development trajectory, while it has achieved significant progress, has reached a point of stagnation. And it provides us a very clear and simple conclusion, and that is that development in Latin America and the Caribbean without resilience is no longer a viable option without resilience. And so we did manage to reduce poverty by half in our region. Nevertheless, today, still one fourth of the population lives in poverty. And so it's very important to understand also that a third of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean live in conditions of vulnerability. This is something that we could discuss ad nauseam, but basically what these figures are telling us is that more than half of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean does not have the mechanisms or the capacities to overcome any type of shock, whether a health one like the pandemic, an environmental one like the El Nino phenomenon, or a geopolitical or political shock like some of the events that we've seen recently in the region. that they cannot overcome this without sacrificing their capacity to continue to progress. So this means that the way that we build development, although it has achieved some things with the multilateral logic of the past, today we need to incorporate resilience to ensure that this development can help us to navigate the reality that our world is going through today. So in this context, productivity can really be this great driving force for resilience and development in Latin America and the Caribbean. And that's why it's fundamental to rethink it and to reach a new frontier in public policy, where we can't continue to work in silos and where it's essential to connect social policy with productive policy for employment and the economy to be able to build this resilience and not make the same mistake we made in the past. We all know about the history of the commodities boom that coincided with progress in social development, but then ultimately it led us to be a middle income region, some countries with high income, but not region with consolidated middle classes, so a region that is still the most unequal on the planet. We have an opportunity now to close the gaps, thanks to the potential we have, and we're able to turn this pressure that is being exercised on our democratic systems and on our development trajectory to ensure that we are able to retain local added value and that the industrialization of our economies can be achieved. cleanly and that we can turn knowledge and capacities over to our local communities. And in this context, the central theme of our dialogue, which is the energy transition, is precisely an opportunity to turn this pressure into growth for resilience, growth and democratic renewal. We all know in this room that Latin America and the Caribbean is an ecological superpower with unique strengths. Today, the electricity mix of Latin America and the Caribbean is structurally clean. More than 65% of it comes from renewable sources. The region is also a hydroelectric giant and a region that is making strides forward to develop other sources. like solar, wind and green hydrogen. We have huge potential here. We're the world's heart of critical minerals that the technology of the future depends on, not only for Latin America and the Caribbean, but also for the rest of the world. And in order to harness this potential, there really needs to be a radical, deep running change in how we understand our relationships with the private sector and the way we engage in development cooperation. Right now, it's not just assistance for development, given the situation of Latin America and the Caribbean, but also the capacity to see resilience as a capacity for development in the region. And we're here because the vision and opportunities alone are not enough. We need to create these conditions in order to turn the ambitions that we have, that we're gathering to discuss this morning, into actions and concrete opportunities for investment. And to achieve this, at UNDP, we have created a mechanism, a facility to finance resilient growth in Latin America and the Caribbean that was presented in the framework of the FFD4 that took place in Seville last year. And it's a platform that brings together governments, financial institutions, international financial institutions, development banks, and the private sector with a view to mobilizing and aligning investments with resilience, turning it not only into a development goal, but also into an opportunity for investment. And so today we'll be talking about the energy transition, but this also applies to the productive transformation, sustainable infrastructure, the industries of the future. And all of this is being worked on here at this platform. And so I want us not just to see this as a dialogue, but also as a broad collective effort. And I think that Nuria and I are doing this and following up on this. to make sure that we can have a discussion today, but also a more technical and concrete dialogue with you so that we can look at how this platform can really help us to align these efforts and these resources and achieve truly resilient growth in our region. I'll wrap up with a final thought. Latin America and the Caribbean right now don't need to choose between competitiveness and inclusion. It's not necessary to make that tough decision. If we want to achieve this transition, we need to move forward with both and provide our democracies with the legitimacy they need. Because at the end of the day, among all of the challenges that democracy faces in Latin America and the Caribbean, the initial original source of legitimacy is the ability to provide well-being and have an impact on people's lives. And so let's not see this only as an investment opportunity, but also as a way both regions can have a very concrete impact in a way that no two regions can in the world today in defining, redefining the future of democracy, development, and multilateral cooperation. as part of this bi-regional relationship. This is the future we want to build together, and right now is the time to start building it. Thank you, all of you, for being here and making this conversation possible in the framework of this multilateral meeting par excellence, the most important one in the world. And being here fills us with hope and a conviction that we can achieve things together. So I'll now give the floor to Nouria. reiterating how delighted we are to be leading this effort this morning with a woman like you.


Speaker 3 [16:06]:

Very well, dear Michelle, thank you so much. The fact is that when we have an opportunity to collaborate on projects, I think that it feels very natural because the vision that we share, both of us, is the same vision. It's the same one. And I think seeing women like you at these institutions that have such clear ideas and the strength that you have to turn ideas into reality, that's very important. And it's this generous vocation, believing in transformation that's so important. And it's an honor to work on this project together and many other projects also. Bettina is working on this positive project also. And it's so important to unite Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe and Spain acts as a bridge. And this recalls the opportunities that we have in this relationship. Now, when you have clear ideas, the world gives you ideal partners. Of course, CAF is our alma mater in the financing of this project. And Fernando Carrillo Our relationship with CEAPI begins with the ambassador of Colombia in Spain, and we're following on from that. We also have Ana Pastor, who has accompanied us many times as a minister in different roles in different ministries, as chair of the Congress also. But today we have the honor of having her here as Secretary General of CEAPI. for us it's very important to join our forces. CIAP is what it is thanks to its partners. We already have a group of 400 CEOs that believe in the Ibero-American project and people are often concerned that they don't have enough time, but the fact is that if you've got a lot of spare time, we wouldn't be inviting you to this project. You're all so busy, and what you're doing by being here is really giving these projects their soul and contributing to changing things. So our project is to bring Ibero-America together and doing it through our companies. And the idea is to do it with companies that believe in growth. That's really our raison d'etre, believing in investment. Because in our view, it's impossible to change the situation if we don't achieve a good level of growth and sufficiently significant growth. For investment, we need dialogue, and for that, we need partners like us. And this is our second cycle of dialogue with Ibero-American presidents, also from the Latin American and the Caribbean. And also This Ibero-American group coming together is so important. Dialogue really is one of the most important areas that we work on. And another important one to promote investment is what I call making the music play in Latin America and the Caribbean and working with think tanks. providing us the data that we need. And this shows that Iberia America is a real opportunity. I think that's increasingly relevant. And we also have two further work streams in investment and that strategic sectors. Last year, we talked about infrastructure, which is a strategic sector. And today, we're talking about another one of the sectors that for us is extremely important and strategic, the energy transition in the world today. The other work stream is a different one, and that's the world of family enterprise. 90%, as we know, of the fabric of our region is family-based. We have some very proud companies here that aren't necessarily family ones, but we want to pay particular attention to family companies. Lastly, another goal is social impact. We understand that when things are unfair. This year, I was at two events where I heard the same word being repeated by the president of Peru, Fujimori, and also the president of Colombia in the inauguration. and they were talking about, both of them talked about vulnerability and poverty. The glaring poverty in parts of those two countries was immoral. So that word, immoral, I think is very important. I think we all need to think about that so that we can make progress on it. I think when it comes to Ibero-America, This is very applicable to today's debate because we want to achieve the world that we all need. We're seeing how there are huge diplomatic conflicts and unfortunately there's also wars raging. We're not just seeing words and decisions being made, we're also seeing warmongering and these conflicts that we're all very concerned about are putting the great debate of power on the table. And in this discussion on power, energy plays a key role. We're all very aware of that, an absolutely fundamental role. And that's why it's very important to talk about energy, because today In the world, energy is power. Energy in the world is also security for countries. And also because if we want to aspire to attract investments and a transformation of our societies, we are all very well aware that the energy that we needed in the past that we didn't have, often due to a lack of generation capacity or transmission capacity, is nothing compared to the energy that we need today if we really want to be at the avant-garde of new technology and the technological transformation. So that's why it's a very important discussion and it's also very important to have such relevant partners from the sector in CEAPI. And I think that what can give us a voice is also our achievements. I think I would be remiss to talk about energy without talking about mining. There's been a very recent change. I'd like to applaud the role of CAF, for example, saying that they're going to invest in mining and investing in that is also investing in sustainability. And just a while ago, that wasn't the case. We couldn't talk about mining at development banks because there was concepts that was very far away from the reality of what mining is. But the European Union has also put the issue of minerals and critical resources on the table, critical resources for Europe. And I think that Iberia America has to make a real effort and agree on mining. Now, some people didn't believe in it. But even if we do believe in it, we can't make sufficient progress if we don't strike a grand bargain. Because the permits that also affect the energy sector have often been delayed by 10, 15 years. especially when it comes to new exploitation in mining and we really need new energy and minerals projects and like my children say we need to really look at what we're doing so on mining what we're seeing aside from the fact that there are materials without which it's impossible to achieve the energy transition. What we're seeing in the field of mining is the profile of companies and their ability to provide good jobs. And often, of course, these projects take place outside of big cities where there aren't healthcare resources or access to drinking water. So all of these needs transform radically when a legal mining project enters an area. And I think in addition to these economic resources for the countries that they get by exporting these economic resources for the public treasuries, They, in addition to the high wages that they provide, they also have a significant impact on the environment and can help us to fight against drug trafficking and violence when we have these additional resources. So when we see people that we see, we see mining happen without permits illegally. And this is being done by people who don't have any type of support. So people working on these mines aren't supported and have to risk their own lives. And often they are threatened by violence. And the products extracted end up in the hands of drug traffickers.


Speaker 4 [28:14]:

And many times the way that they're extracted is very aggressive in terms of the environment. We are aware of the need to have a positive impact that includes what is left behind. And this is a major issue with illegal mining. And now I think is a good topic to now turn to Michelle from Spain, the host country of the Ibero-American Summit in November. And now I invite you to continue this dialogue with the partners of CEAP and of course, also the EU, CAF, PRESENDE, the others. We're all in the same boat here. Thank you.


Speaker 5 [29:19]:

Thank you very much for those words highlighting the importance of strengthening bi-regional business cooperation and creating new investment and innovation opportunities for a sustainable and inclusive energy transition. With this, we will start off our panel. I give the floor to our distinguished moderator, Vice President of PREISA Group, Fernando Carrillo.


PREISA · Vice President [29:44]:

Thank you very much indeed. What a pleasure to be here with you all. I would like to in turn thank Michelle and Nuria and you, Claudia, for organizing this event so impeccably. You've done it better than anyone else could have. I also greet Bettina, Minister Ana Pastor. What a privilege to be here with you. I also greet all the panelists here, representatives of various businesses, regional groups, and above all, the private sector. I would like to echo Michelle's words. It is very gratifying to see women's leadership on this topic because we are convinced that perhaps the most cultural revolution that we've seen in the past century is women's rights. And this is despite the various headwinds that we're seeing from various points, and I'm very pleased to see the clarity of the argumentation regarding why multilateralism is really worth it. It is precisely the central goal of what a... the convergence of various bodies, civil society, the private sector, in such a comprehensive and holistic approach is fundamental to addressing any of these topics because when, well, I recall a dialogue with the president of the Dominican Republic. And when 20 years ago we were embarking on this path, we really focused on democracy and democratic policies and international financial institutions, and defending all of these principles and values and institutions that are based on these values, as well as democratic leadership that is true to these principles, are a combination of fundamental combination, if we were to have a comprehensive vision of development. We've had above all how development runs hand in hand with the right to development and political, economic and social development, as Michelle and Nuria both highlighted, these are not incompatible objective and ultimately any discussion that we have on these topic is not a matter of choosing one or the other. The real challenge is to make sure that these objectives go hand in hand without technology, without these efforts, we're not able going to be able to simultaneously increase our technological capacity, as well as establish some sort of democratic control of AI, for example, as the SG said last week, so I think, in the area of political choices, public policy choices, there's, there's always the option of choosing development and social inclusion. The development schemes we've seen are either focused on growth or on distribution that are contaminated with populism. And I would therefore like highlight that the most important premise of this and the DNA of development itself must be democracy because this is something that we require. We've seen the failures that come when it's lacking. Citizens need to take ownership of this need need to fight for democracy and this is clear in this report that I hold before you. This is a seminal, fundamental report. I've had the opportunity to participate in a related event and this now has gone much further. So we need to really think about how to link the political, social development agendas. And the cell needs to focus on resilience. This has been commented on recently, including at the heads of state and government in Santa Marta, Colombia. The problem is to is not just to overcome various political storms, but it's to come out of them stronger. I had a friend who had a major theory about what's most resistant in a storm. And they're about swans that are best able to resist a storm and continue living their lives. So I think we need to take that as an example. And look at how the essence of an ecosystem, in this case, the essence of the development ecosystem, and how we can make sure that in the face of a storm that becomes stronger and more resilient. There's also an ethical connotation to this, and I'm not talking about necessarily religion or spirituality here. This has to do with human dignity, with the dignity of communities. of course, respecting the religious and spiritual convictions of everyone, but without trying to create any confusion between the ethics of public commitments and public policies. And in this panel, we have the usual suspects, such as international bodies, And I've worked with some of you for 15 years. So on the one hand, we have the international bodies, regional bodies, governments, where this isn't just a sterile exercise in dialogue. We are finding points of convergence, taking steps forward. we are showing that we are capable of becoming stronger in the face of the challenges we face. Well, what we're seeing today is truly positions of extremism and radicalism. And this includes technology that is being harnessed by the ultra right, for example. And in some ways, technology is hampering dialogue. So there's a need to place the energy transition at the heart of a development agenda that takes into account all of these variables that, of course, are related to the economy, but also social and ethical commitments. Because if we make a mistake into and how we benefit the public interest, then we're going to encounter democratic challenges. And that's what we're seeing is issues with democracy. From the point of view of citizen trust, democracy is being eroded because the necessary social and economic results aren't being produced. So we need to address the violence and insecurity that is plaguing Latin America. And this can also be done from the point of view of energy security and infrastructure. We also need to address violence as well as inequality, because similar to the issue of the digital dimension and energy policy that doesn't take into account will generate further inequality, even though we know that energy is a fundamental right. And finally, Nuria highlighted that we also need to look at the issue of mining. For example, in Colombia, when 30 years ago we were fighting drug traffickers, there was only one crime in the criminal law and only one action. Now there are 15 different criminal acts, extortion, production of precursors, et cetera, and illegal mining needs to be addressed similarly. When we talk about investments, competitiveness, resilience, we're talking about a framework of values and principles because they are also values that these projects need to be aligned with. And finally, what this panel seeks to do is to find this match between projects that have potential and projects that would be interesting for the private sector for investment. And I would like to invite the new vice president of CAF, talk about cooperation, partnerships. She's the Vice President for Cooperation, Partnerships, and Resource Mobilization in CAF. And this is indeed an important role played by CAF, its president and vice presidents, in consolidating this dialogue and ensuring that it brings about results. together with UNDP, they are taking on a leadership role in this area. And the capital that exists in this energy market is seeking opportunities, opportunities for an energy transition where investment is needed. And how can an institution such as CAF contribute to transforming these priorities and strengthening these projects, there's-- this is not an easy task to do to actually carry out this project technically. So, Alisa, I'll give you the floor to talk about how these promising energy projects are being turned into opportunities and opportunities that mobilize resources, because I think ultimately a fundamental element of all this is how we are going to mobilize resources for the energy sector. I have another question, but I'll give you the floor now to respond to that one for three or four minutes, and then we can move on to the next one. Thank you very much.


Central African Republic · Vice President [42:33]:

Above all, thank you for inviting CAF to participate here. Thank you, Michelle, Nourian, everyone else. It's also a great luxury to participate in a panel moderated by Fernando. I would like to perhaps see something that's obvious, but there's a debate that is perhaps that supersedes us. And it's one thing to talk about this topic amongst ourselves, and it's another to go out there into the world and convince everyone that it's an opportunity. We have, at CAF, has always said that Latin American Caribbean is a region of solutions and opportunities, but I believe that currently we're also seeing a great number of contradictions because they're also a number of countries that see fossil fuels as an economic opportunity and a transition opportunity. So we need to address this very carefully and with significant resources on the table, as Fernando said. We need to mobilize resources so that these opportunities become reality, and this isn't always easy. Political will and effort is required as well. as institutional support, which needs to emanate from democracy, as has been said. The deterioration of democracy and multilateralism go hand in hand, so I believe that it is important to preserve these spaces. CAF, in this context, seeks to build a partnership of trust. We are an institution from Latin America for Latin America. The members of our organization are all from Latin America with the exception of Spain. And we listen to our shareholders and we do what our shareholders say, demand, and we're working with them on the energy transition. Last year, we approved $18 million for the region, and 45% of that has been dedicated specifically to this area, which is some $7.5 million, which is a significant figure. But almost all of that is going towards mitigation, energy transition, resilient infrastructures, disaster risk reduction. The rest is adaptation, which is also a key aspect of resilience that we need to invest in. Ultimately, what is it that we believe? We have opportunities in the region, including critical minerals, and I appreciate the highlight on the need for sustainable mining. But it is also necessary for the region to turn into a provider of critical minerals. Much has been said about building value trails, and I believe that this is an important aspect that we need to work on. And another topic that has only been touched on tangentially that I want to emphasize is the link between energy and digitalization and everything to do with AI, data centers, and the significant energy consumption that those data centers bring about. There are also opportunities for Latin America to build data centers based on clean energy. KEF is a relevant stakeholder that wants to support countries in the energy transition, but we need to mobilize resources to do this both through private investment as well as the impact funds that we've been working with. We're also working on risk pooling with the private sector. And we also dedicate a significant amount of our work to project preparation. This is really essential. We dedicate 70 million every year to technical cooperation. And this is also an important topic in our view because project preparation is something systemic and it affects institutional strengthening, capacity building, It has been said that democracy is deteriorating because there is no time for dialogue. ICTs are leaving us less and less time for dialogue. But I think that that is really part of what CAF is trying to do, is create this dialogue and also to be aware that this is a very long-term investment. We need to build capacities and prepare projects. but we need to ensure that these projects are appropriate for these countries. It's not just to have investment come and go. CEF is working on a new strategy currently for the upcoming few years, and it is important that we continue our commitment of dedicating 50% of our approvals to topics related to the green economy. It is also important to put data and figures on the table in this discussion. And of course, the EU is a key partner for us. I think there is currently an opportunity to create new alliances and strengthen alliances, strengthen democratic cooperation in the area of energy and create solid for us so that we can move forward in the direction we all want to move in without losing track.


PREISA · Vice President [48:53]:

A brief response, if I may, before moving on to the second panelist. I believe that creating the conditions for trust has always been fundamental. There's trust plays an important factor in reducing risk, in creating investment market. You also mentioned technology. That's important to place these debates in the current context because they're no longer the same as they were in the past. I believe that the key here stability, stable work. A lot has been said about stability of regulatory framework as well as capacity building and training, but above all, trust is built with time and with normative stability as well as multilateral support that helps maintain long-term agendas during turbulent, perhaps, periods.

Go on, Enrique.

And now, Enrique Riquelme. Enrique has been a champion. He's a real champion in many ways, and particularly in what he has done for innovation in the Ibero-American space. And I think your example, the example of your life and your company is a key example. Many times, people working on these development projects don't have such clear examples of success. Latin American grids depend on renewables to some degree. And based on this premise, how can we mobilize investment in infrastructure on the one hand, and in scalable projects above all, because the scaling that we're currently seeing with these projects is not at the level that it needs to be for this region. So from your experience as a businessman in the private sector, but thinking of the public sector, what is the difference between a project that simply has potential and a project that is truly interesting to investors and one that will genuinely have a future.


Cox [52:08]:

Thank you very much, Fernando. It is an honor to be a panelist. I've never been so close, sitting so close to perfection. I'd like to begin by thanking the UNDP, CEPI, and all the organizations involved in this meeting for creating this opportunity for dialogue on the sidelines of the General Assembly. The General Assembly is one of the most major events of the planet where consensus is sought and the future is often decided. How do we respond to challenges that affect everyone? What is also fundamental is these smaller meetings that have equally great impact because they turn major statements into concrete cooperation. And this is more necessary than ever because we are experiencing a political and geopolitical context of great uncertainty, volatility, we're living in an increasingly fragmented world when it comes to conflicts, value change, and supply chains under pressure, and a great many events that are affecting businesses, communities, and families. Markets are increasingly interconnected. There are no longer any local crises, financing, commodities, energy, all of this is interlinked and affects the competitiveness of countries. We must also avoid paralysis when it comes to facing these challenges. And I think, therefore, we need to say it loud and clear, the context we're currently in is not good for business. nor is it good for investment, nor for governments to design effective, essential development policies. This includes energy. Critical energy infrastructure is critical for the lives of people, for productivity, for the functioning of economies, for digitalization, industrialization, and ultimately for social stability. Therefore, to follow up on this description of the current context and to answer the question about attractive projects for investment in Latin America, I will make a very specific reference to my group, which is Cox, which is a group that invests capitals, and we operate in a number of countries and regions around the world. We're currently undergoing a change where we're changing all of our investments in all the regions where we used to operate in except for Spain and Latin America. because we're clearly seeing a positive cycle that we want to take advantage of for Latin America. We saw that in Mexico, where we made the right choice by betting on Mexico with a great deal of its capacities. And I think The same applies to the rest of Latin America. We have a plan to invest in the majority of countries of Latin America. We're already operating in these countries. We have a great number of staff working in them, and we will be investing $10 to $12 million in critical infrastructure And this isn't just because of the viability and the investment returns. We are representing all regions here in this meeting. We need to become a region that is a global driver in this new context, both in terms of commodities as well as in terms of infrastructure.


Speaker 10 [57:10]:

In order for this potential to be turned into sustainable, implementable and financeable projects, we need projects that are able to attract capital, technology, knowledge and financing. And so there are three fundamental conditions for this. The first is regulatory certainty. Critical infrastructure cannot be built in just two years. We need investment, clear rules, contracts to be respected, tariffs to respond to logic and fiscal and regulatory frameworks not to change unpredictably. It is not just asking the political sector for privileges; we are asking for predictability. We need technological and financial measures. And the second condition for this to happen is having well-structured projects. There are so many good ideas in the region, political will and evident clear needs, but between a good investment and a good idea and investment, there's a lot of distance between that. So we need to continue to support institutions like CAF, UNDP, the EU, the development banks. Their contributions are not restricted to just financing, but helping countries to prepare for projects, reducing the risk perception, aligning the parties and facilitating public and private capital working together. Alicia was also saying that this goes across different governments. So working multilaterally, we can support long term critical infrastructure projects for the region despite political changeover. We're seeing constant changes with different political ideas. So therefore, the capital exists. What often doesn't exist is the sufficient scale for deliverable, bankable projects and the ability to attract the investment. Then there's a final, um, essential condition, which is fostering the environment for true public-private partnership. Investment isn't possible with only public resources. and all leaving it all in the hands of the market. We need strong institutions, strategic planning and companies that are able to bring in adequate financing and a shared vision of the social impact of each project. Achieving a just transition doesn't only mean decarbonising, it's bringing safe, clean, accessible energy to households, strengthening the value chains, qualified workforce and ensuring that a community sees tangible improvements in their life, more competitiveness and more well-being. Above and beyond this, I think a fundamental part of it is critical infrastructure and the transmission and distribution networks. There can be no energy transition without modern electricity networks that are flexible and interconnected. It's not enough to just install renewable capacity if we can't transport it, store it, and manage it, and put it to the service of consumers and new industry. Therefore, we need to invest in generation, of course. Of course, we need to do that, but also in transmission, distribution, storage, and smart management of demand. And these are two sides of the same coin. Without one, the other can't be delivered. So for Europe, Europe and Latin America should see each other as strategic partners. And we're not talking about a relationship of assistance. It's an alliance to strengthen energy security, create new value chains, increase industry, boost connectivity, and provide prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic. But I just want to conclude with some symbolism about this meeting. This is the model that we need to replicate for Latin America and the Caribbean. When governments, regions, and financial institutions, and private companies all work together, we don't only see a mobilization of capital, we see a generation of credibility. And credibility is the most important asset that we need to attract investment at the end of the day. So if we're able to maintain this unity that we have here at this meeting, I think it's possible to build stable frameworks and to deliver projects that can improve the lives of people. The energy transition, will no longer just be an aspiration and will be turned into a way to boost competitiveness, social cohesion and shared development. Thank you very much.


Moderator [1:02:29]:

This is the positive side of things. Yesterday, they were talking about countries that have 60 different paths for attracting investment and eight in the Dominican Republic so we need to look at what the strategic barriers are to this type of investment in order to deliver projects that are not only replicable but scalable we don't necessarily need to just look at the dark side of the situation, the negatives, but looking really at these barriers and how to overcome them to attract this type of investment.


Speaker 12 [1:03:23]:

Just to answer you, the political response is important, but I want to tell you about the reality that I see, and that is that there are Two things happening right now. The first one is certain governments, countries, institutions do not opt for the plan that they really need due to different political considerations. So a disconnect between the government and the population, the community, governance, given the different vested interests. For example, if you get permission in one area, you need to give something somewhere else. That's often the political reality. So in countries where political institutions are not clear and don't have the ability to really choose what's good for their country and work on things other than the urgent immediate needs like infrastructure for short-term survival, thinking on the long term is difficult. And so the private sector can't do that much there. There, multilateralism is important, institutions like the UNDP. and the organizations who I'm grateful to see here. So that's key. That's absolutely key. Of course, there are procedures that need to be complied with. Each market has them. A lot of strategic projects go through a single window in many countries, which is good. But the issue is political will at all of the different phases and steps within a given country. On the other hand, I'd say that Latin America let's see for example Brazil other markets this meeting is important for working on this now we have critical infrastructure only for small markets so for Central America for example they need to think about total integration of that critical infrastructure because it's very difficult in small countries. It's not worth investing in one single country because it's not competitive. So we need transmission routes for water, sanitation, and I think we need to make these types of critical projects more uniform across the region, we can have multi-country investment rather than in specific countries. And Latin America and the Caribbean is a region where a lot of the countries don't have the size or the credit rating to attract investment in long-term critical infrastructure. They just don't have that capacity, unfortunately, in a lot of countries.


Moderator [1:06:35]:

So thank you for your very honest response. It's very important. I think one of the big questions is how to build state policies. To build state policies, we need to have consensus for public policies that are able to be sustainable in time. To have these, we need to agree on their design at the beginning. And in a lot of countries, it's not that easy to just build these when there's all sorts of barriers in the traditional economic situation, for example, and it's quite difficult. And of course, I'm glad that we spent on airports so that you could get here. That's important. So I think we need to continue on that track and look at what conditions we need for the private sector to really take these opportunities. If we look at how the energy transition can create competitiveness for development, what about in our, what we've seen in our personal experience,


Ecuador [1:07:48]:

we need to advocate for the energy transition as a driving force for competitiveness. Now, when we talk about the energy transition, we tend to talk about technology. We mentioned solar energy, wind and hydroelectric energy, storage. networks, strategic minerals, electrification. And we must talk about all of these things. However, an energy transition is much more profound than that. Humanity has already gone through several transitions from biomass to coal, from coal to oil and gas. And each and every one of these transformed much more than just energy. They transformed industry, cities, transport, companies, geopolitics, and the way we live in large part. Today, we're entering a new transition. And this time, we're especially aware that the decisions that we make will have economic, social, territorial and environmental impacts for decades. That is why we are not just replacing some sources of energy with others; we are building tomorrow's infrastructure. growth for the next generations. I think Latin America is on the cusp of a great opportunity. 60%, like you've already said, of our electricity already comes from renewable sources. We're well ahead of a lot of places, a lot of cities and countries because we have natural resources. We have water, bioenergy, our sun, raw materials, everything we need from electrification and building out the networks. But having natural resources has never been enough alone. We need what you just mentioned, reliability. We need to be reliable and trustworthy. And that's why I'd like to thank CAF and PIV on Ecuador's behalf, because CAF has really made great contributions to the networks between our coast and the mountains, mountainous parts of the country. 77 million have been given in sovereign guarantees to attract billions of dollars for 12 new renewable electricity projects. So, we really thank both of you for the help you gave us. Ecuador though does have a lot to do. And the president finally has realized our energy deficit is significant. We are unfortunately, we do unfortunately have a deficit and we have to import a lot from Colombia. Unfortunately, our energy faces a lot of regulations. We have, for example, our hydroelectric networks in the mountainous regions, and the El Nino phenomenon is going to have a significant impact, and our deficit is going to increase. I'm in favor of biomass energy. I think we need to look at that. But we need to look at what we can produce. And all of this is going to be affected. We cannot really replace the amount of energy that our country really needs. So I think what we need to do is look well beyond our capacities. insofar as why we as Latin America aren't producing all of our own raw materials and then that we're exporting 40% of the world's copper and 20% of lithium, but we're not really giving them the added value that they deserve. And that's why we are demanding action. so that we can produce and change not only our cities, remember that we are also creating jobs, many, many more jobs for our countries by doing this and changing our transport systems and really changing the way we live ultimately. And I think we need to boost this. We're going through a transition between two different energy eras, and transitions do lead to uncertainty. And the fact is that this isn't fully built yet. And it's right now, therefore, that we need to engage in much more profound restructions, reflections rather. We need more resilient energy, and to achieve this, we need to mobilize the capital that we need to finance it. And we need to make sure that the prosperity generated by these projects reaches people and reaches all of the regions of our countries. Infrastructure, investment, inclusion. In our countries, we are aware of all of this. And that's why the energy ministers have made efforts to change the energy regulation. We're trying to provide better legal certainty and financing so that we can attract investors, like you said, from other places. However, these three words are important: infrastructure, investment, and inclusion. And that goes well above and beyond our own responsibilities. We need the megawatts, the minerals, the networks, the batteries and the figures. And behind all of those, there are people, there are communities and future generations who one day will have to live with the decisions that we are taking today. After so many years in business, I've reached a clear conclusion that true leadership does not only consist of building things that we can see, it also consists of caring for something that we'll never see. Thank you very much.


Moderator [1:16:59]:

Thank you very much, Isabel, for that last part, pointing to the ethical considerations of this debate, which, of course, is extremely relevant to all of our discussions today. Now, we have a little bit less than 30 minutes. We have three more interventions, so I'll go straight to the second panel, where we have Carlos Vargas or de Silva and Santiago Rodriguez and others from Andino Holding. So I think we need to move from a vision to actions. And Enrique, Isabel said this, also Alicia. I think that it's absolutely fundamental to look at how to to move this from having sufficient quantity of renewable energy to business capacity, investments and modernization in this sector, technology also. So I wanted to ask you, Carlos Vargas Loret de Mola, you're an expert and of course, businessman also. So I wanted to ask you from the point of view of the experience of your company, Andino, in infrastructure, logistical infrastructure in Peru, how can you reach this vision of renewable energy? What type of investment and what type of conditions do you need? for this investment to reach infrastructure like transport, airports, logistics and connectivity. How do we achieve this? Your four sectors are very key for competitiveness and I think you have some great experience there. So I wonder if you could talk about this, about infrastructure and how we can deliver all of these projects?


Speaker 16 [1:19:06]:

Michelle, I'll begin. Thank you, everyone. Thank you to Michelle, UNDP, Nuria Ciapi for the invitation and for me to make my contribution to this very interesting discussion. I've given some thought to the title of our meeting, energy transition, competitiveness. And the first thing that comes to mind as a very practical person is that in Latin America, we are relatively poor countries with low GDP per capita. And to achieve an efficient energy transition, the energy that we will ultimately have must be cheap. It needs to be very cheap. because we want to see more mining, which consumes a lot of energy. We want to develop, we want to build infrastructure. All of this also requires a great deal of energy. So we need cheap energy, and this transition must meet this criteria. It must be more renewable energy, more resilient, of course. And going into some details about Peru, Peru has hydro energy, it has gas, and it has renewable energy. Those are the three energy sources that we currently have today. The infrastructure deficit that we have is enormous. Just to give you an example, we, in the most, In the poorer part of the country, in the south, we have an investment plan for airports to modernize those to improve the landing strips, the terminals. This is a 10-year plan with $1.5 million, and the country requires more investments still in infrastructure. We have had five or six presidents now in the last five years. And this is-- this echoes what Enrique said. I'm not sure that we meet the criteria of stability. But going beyond the daily politics, we have a stable country with a very strong, independent central bank. And so from the point of view of the airport sector, the infrastructure sector in the country, the conclusion for me would be that indeed we need to transform our energy mix and move towards decarbonization to ensure more renewable energy sources. and decrease the role of gas, which we will run out of one day, that we therefore need to strengthen our other energy sources. So that's how we see the situation in Peru, is that we're hoping to have cheaper energy in the future. Thank you.


Speaker 17 [1:22:33]:

Carlos. And this also brings us back to digitalization. This is also related to the improvements you talk about, including connectivity and digital connectivity. Can you talk about how that experience has been in Peru and especially from the point of view of government regulation? Because as we heard, Earlier, the state in some circumstances is not just not a facilitator, it is an obstacle. What is the situation in Peru?


Speaker 18 [1:23:06]:

Well, in mining, for example, we have mining projects that last 15, 20 years without being completed. I'm not an expert in the mining sector, but I do have some exposure to that sector. And you understand, ultimately, that the process to open a new mine will take some time. Well, on the topic of mining and investing in mining in the country, the various bureaucratic procedures that one has to go through really don't help. We have a lot of these processes currently, and informal mining in the country has been and continues to be a serious issue. And I believe that there are more than 4 million people employed in illegal mining in the country, which is a terrible figure. And this, combined with a lack of opportunities in other sectors in the country, means that many people are drawn into this parallel world that we don't want to have in terms of development.


Speaker 19 [1:24:35]:

The things that remain very clear have to do mostly with what we refer to as legal security, the ability to predict. And Robert da Silva, the Chair of Energy and Natural Resources of DLA Piper, Robert, when we talk about risks, particularly challenges in the regulatory sense, it's a legal matter, but it also has a greater dimension that has to do with the realities that are being dealt with in the different countries. These different challenges and contracts, regulations, and the various obstacles that states may put forth. What repercussions do they have and how do you deal with them as a law firm that has legal experience in Latin America when it comes to ensuring that there be trust, which is a key element. Go ahead, please.


DLA Piper · Chair of Energy and Natural Resources [1:25:52]:

Thank you very much, Fernando. and to the UNDP, thank you very much for inviting me to this very valuable discussion. It's impressive. I am a lawyer by training, and from the legal perspective and judicial perspective, what we are seeing now the topics that we have discussed as a group, there's an alignment that's very noteworthy. But we have to go back to the fundamentals, the basics. I'll talk to you a little bit more about that, but regulatory predictability, one, two, and three. I'm going in order of importance for investment, for capital, for private capital, stable and transparent rules and without retroactive changes. So this means that investors must be able to adapt to regulatory changes as long as the process be transparent. timelines be reasonable and there be clarity in terms of existing contracts. Now, when I said that we have to go back to the basics, if we were here talking a couple of decades ago, it would have been an issue of, or rather, a discussion from the perspective of government organizations and regulatory policy in many of these countries. Now, today, the countries, in the countries, as Michelle has mentioned, the region is very well established and positioned. more than ever. But for some time, what we've been seeing from the perspective of legislation and governments is legislation or regulations, for example, public-private partnerships. There's a very well-established and informed framework. But what we're seeing in terms of economic cycles and the energy transition and technology is that the basics and the principles are even more important because we are today talking about in addition to resilience, storage, Five or six years ago, it wasn't even on the radar. So what we need are regulatory programs that are well established, that can match economic and technological cycles All of this is rooted in having the ability to finance, and this requires foreseeable income. And as Enrique mentioned, parties who have resource that also has a political and regional dimension and also clear and adjustable duties. Another very important issue from the perspective of governments, legislation, and risk reduction. All of this is key to move capital. The idea isn't to eliminate risks, but rather to allocate them to a place where they'd be best positioned to being well managed. And in addition to that, what we need in the region are counterparts that have experience, promoters with experience, all of whom must have the financial capabilities and operational capabilities. There are various examples. Two more things that I'd like to mention, please. Another cycle that we're witnessing And this has nothing to do with a lack of capital. But there is a lack of mature banking projects. What we've seen is that capital has evolved and it is moved. Increasingly, private capital plays a growing role. This is in a financial sense, I'm not talking from the government or public perspective. The traditional sources are still very important. This includes multilateral agencies, export finance agencies, all of them are very relevant. But more and more, we are witnessing the role of private capital, private funds. This has to do with equity and debt. And it's very important to see them as allies and partners in these projects. We are seeing more and more opportunities, not just, I won't say the old model, the PPPs, but more and more we are seeing combined financing, blended financing with private equity partners, they're extremely relevant. One other thing is that private capital is looking for scalability. So in the legislative and regulatory plain, the idea is to promote systems that allow for projects to move forward. But the main thing is particularly to move forward with platforms and portfolios. And that is precisely what private capital is looking for. And at the contractual level too. We're working. And this has to do with the ability to repeat these experiences. So private capital must be able to understand the risks, assess them, be able to trust the rules and ensure that contracts will be upheld, ensure that risks be assigned to those who can manage them best. All of this turns an energy opportunity into an investment that can be financed and can be conducted at scale. And as Enrique mentioned, the region is on an upward cycle in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thank you.


Speaker 21 [1:34:26]:

Santiago is going to speak, but Claudia, we will give you the floor. So you have the floor for the closing. This is such an enriching exchange. We will continue, but I think it is very important to listen to the EU's perspective. So we would like to give you the floor. Delphine Bronck, the director for Latin America of the Foreign Affairs Office of the European Union.


EU · Director for Latin America [1:34:51]:

Thank you. Thank you very much, but I'm going to speak in English.

To speak in English, but in light of time, it will, I think, enormously facilitate also the management of this excellent meeting, because in this week of the high mass of international diplomacy, how important is it to speak also to private sector, to investors, and under the direction of the UNDP and the API. I would like to thank you for convening this important meeting and apologies for jumping the queue, but as you know, this is a sport week where, you know, meetings are back-to-back. So let me just begin, if you allow me, Michelle, to start with some figures. And because why in this week of high mass of politics and diplomacy, we need to talk about trade and investments and in EU like partnerships that delivers and the EU European Union 27 member states, as you know, Spain is a very important one, is the largest investor in Latin America, Caribbean with more than 800 billion euros of investment only in 2024. And it's comparable to EU investments in China, Canada, Japan, and Singapore combined. So this is not to be underestimated. And we know that trade and services turnover between the EU and Latin America Caribbean has gone up by more than 62% in the last 10 years, reaching $440 billion in 2025. So the EU is like third largest trade partner after the US and China. And European investments, and we heard that as well, are concentrated in strategic sectors such as renewable energy and telecoms. So that's why today's conversation is so important, because it's about real people. Many of you have said it. It's more than 2.75 million jobs in LAC that are directly linked to EU investment in the region. We have been building as a EU systematically and transparency and predictable as well, a web of association and trade agreements. across the region. And we maintain currently 30 out of 33 countries that have agreements. And once in application, our network of free trade agreements will cover 97% of LAX GDP. Now, we've just concluded, and thanks for all of you for your stamina, the EU-Mercosur agreement. That was high time. And we signed, again, a modernized global agreement with Mexico. So those are powerful examples. But I want you to take away three key messages out of this roundtable that for sure is not the start and also not the end. We have heard it. also today, security, rule of law, democracy and predictability are not separate from economic policy. They are prerequisites for investment. And tomorrow, the High Representative of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, will co-preside with her Uruguayan counterpart a meeting of EU and CELAC ministers, so uniting 60 countries together to talk about how we can be indeed safer together. Because the EU will and can bring its knowledge on institutional capacity, quality infrastructure, finance, regulatory cooperation to help create a more secure, transparent, predictable, trusted business environment. I think trust is the rarest of commodities these days, so we need to continue to work on that. So to make the long-term investment more attractive while supporting sustainable development, that was my first message. Second of the three key messages, this is really closely aligned with our EU Global Gateway framework, and those principles of EU Global Gateway investment agenda include security, good governance, transparency, and we need to catalyze private sector investment. So that's why I'm also very honored as a diplomat to be part also of this business part of your of your conversations today. Some of the key elements also of our investment agenda is to make rule of law an investment priority. We hear businesses very clearly that we need judicial independence, efficient courts, contract enforcement, anti-corruption frameworks, and transparent public procurement. Because for investors, the ability to rely on contracts and to obtain legal remedies, the effective ones, is a core component of a predictable and trusted business environment. And for that, we need to strengthen security as an economic enabler. We need to deepen our cooperation against organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, cybercrime, illicit financial flows. Safer communities, including port security, freedom of navigation, transport corridors, digital networks, they all reduce operational risk for businesses. And we have recently expanded our cooperation through the EU-LAC Alliance on Citizen Security. To priorities, prioritize regulatory predictability to help LAC partners to develop a clear and stable and transparent regulatory framework within our consultation and adequate transition periods when rules change. And to build resilient infrastructure and supply chain. We talked about secure energy, critical raw materials. LAC is a region that holds 60% of global lithium resources and 40% of global copper resources. So that's important for us to build on these reliable regional EU value chains. Now to turn Global Gateway into a stronger investment platform, we really need scalable and bankable projects. We heard it also from the business community to bring public and private actors together early. to provide technical assistance. We have an investment hub, so make use of it, and I will not mention all the numbers that is there in my extensive briefing. But what I want you to also keep in mind is how we can really make a difference together, and I will name three very concrete examples. We're working on a green hydrogen and green transition in Chile, where the European Investment Bank signed a 105 million euro framework loan with a Banco Estado. Sustainable transport in Costa Rica, where we're working on an electrical passenger train and to really ensure that also daily lives of citizens are affected and improved. And then also many of you spoke about the regional cooperation that is so needed. So also from the EU side, we work on regional electricity integration in Latin America. So we're covering more than 24 projects. The numbers are there, I'm ready to share, but I think it's important to highlight those concrete projects where the EU together with Latin American, Caribbean partners can work together with the support of private sector. You need to tell us what you need from us and I would like to thank also explicitly the CAF and their important work, Alicia. We continue those conversations, not just here in New York, not just in Brussels, but I also encourage business community to reach out to all of our EU embassies on the ground where we can really make a concrete difference for Latin America, Caribbean, as well as for the European Union. So, Michel, thank you so much also for your indulgence, and thank you for having me here. And apologies, I have to leave earlier a bit, but thanks.


Speaker 23 [1:42:15]:

And.

Now, give the floor back for Santiago's question, and then we'll have a final closing message from UNDP and CEAPI. Since we're concluding, as Robert was saying, the capital is there, the resources are there. There is business capacity, growing business capacity, but there are many challenges and gaps in Latin America. So many studies have identified what are the main gaps. Thank you very much.

I hope you can hear me. Thank you very much for the invitation from UNDP and CIAP. It's an honor to be here. To get into the details very quickly, the biggest gap lies in the energy sector and infrastructure, as Enrique was saying. Latin America has abundant energy, and it has indeed more energy than any other part of the world. Unfortunately, energy isn't going to be cheap, but what we can do is try and make it as cheap as possible. We need to build infrastructure and electricity networks. That infrastructure is the cheapest, the second cheapest infrastructure to build on the planet, exceeded only by fiber electric cables. The economic impact of building a power line for a big economy depends, of course, on what that electricity is used for, whether it's for data centers or for industry or for the population to consume. or for example, to, to pump water and so on. So, building infrastructure is key. What can we do now? Using the gigantic demand from data centers, for example, as a lever. building high tension infrastructure when it comes to investing in a data center is vast. But what is small is if we invest in solar energy, normally the transmission lines are a tenth of the investment that it would be for a data center. So that is where we are going to foreground the role of the multilateral side of things and try to bring together to a certain extent governments with business and also make sure that local businesses are able to build alongside developers coming from other places. All of this infrastructure and so that we can develop and plan, as has also previously been said this morning, a state with infrastructure that goes beyond just one government, to make sure that these can be long-term plans. The opportunity that Latin America has in terms of energy is vast. As Robert de Silva was saying, the capital is coming in, but more than coming in, it wants to come in, and clear rules are needed. in the area of regulation and interconnections between countries, and it's vital for multilaterals to be able to help us in this regard to ensure that the connections between countries are firm and robust. Some work very well and have been working between Brazil and Paraguay, for example, for 50 years. about 8% of the capacity is built and I think in other sectors and I think we need to make sure that we build what we're building now to make sure that Latin America can be the energy driver of the planet, the energy engine of the planet. Thank you very much.

Since our time is up, Claudia, you have the floor.


Speaker 24 [1:46:07]:

Thank you very much to all of the panelists. This was wonderful and I just As Isabel said, the three I's, infrastructure, inclusion, and investment, and I think that we're only beginning this discussion now.


Speaker 25 [1:46:19]:

So thank you very much, Claudia. You have the floor and will conclude. Thank you very much. I'll now give the floor to Bettina Wold, Deputy Regional Director for the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of UNDP.


UNDP · Deputy Regional Director [1:46:35]:

Thank you very much for this excellent conversation. Really, it's been a fantastic panel. What we've heard today is not just a dialogue about energy. It's a conversation about the competitiveness of future, a future of development for North America and the Caribbean. The energy transition is already underway across the region. The question is no longer whether it will take place, but rather whether we can make sure that it generates more investment, It generates more value and creates more opportunities for everyone. This is where the partnership between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean becomes particularly powerful. Europe provides financing, technology, and market demand. Latin America and the Caribbean provides renewable energy potential, natural resources, talent, biodiversity, and innovation. Together, both regions can move forward in energy, security, competitiveness, sustainable growth, and resilient human development. To conclude, I would like to highlight three priorities, moving from ambition to implementation, addressing regulatory barriers, institutional barriers, and funding barriers that the region still faces. to connect clean energy to productive transformation so that the energy transition can generate jobs, innovation, and local value creation, building partnerships that mobilize capital at a large scale while making sure that people remain at the heart of the transition. And the message from today is clear. Latin America and the Caribbean should not simply participate in the global energy transition. With the necessary investments and partnerships, the region can shape that. Thank you very much.


Speaker 27 [1:48:30]:

Thank you very much, Bettina. Thank you very much, Bettina. And we will conclude with Anna Pastor, the Secretary General of CEAPI.


CEAPI · Secretary General [1:48:38]:

Thank you very much. I'll be very brief. I'm not going to try and summarize what has been said here today. I would rather like to return everything that has been said today in the form of a commitment and say that we are not lacking in capacities or skills. We have financial institutions, we have the business capacity to lead a clean and just energy transition. We have rare earths, we have energy. But what we need is something more. We need the commitment and unity of all. We have spoken about shared projects, we've spoken about generating local and regional value. And as Enrique said very well, we can't talk about these things in isolation in a global world. We must have significant and shared projects. And today we can indeed say that we have reached some commitments. to keep mobilizing capital towards sectors that can at the moment constitute a bottleneck with more modern electricity power networks, with critical minerals, strengthening the preparation of projects, as Alicia said very well, and institutional capacities, building bridges, as we've tried to do here this morning. Thank you ever so much, UNDP. And I thank you, Nuria, for leading this very ambitious project. And thanks to all of the multilateral institutions, to the private sector as well, because I think that we can really write a story of success and of historic opportunities here today. I really liked hearing about what comes out when you face difficulties. I do think that indeed we are going to be able as governments, businesses, and the development bank, international partners, and each and every one of you, we are going to be able to achieve this with projects, with investment, and with tangible results that we need to give back to society, to our fellow countrymen and women in the Ibero-American space and the Caribbean. Thank you very much.