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The Growing Demand for Advice

2001-11-30

Marcelo Olarreaga, an economist with the World Bank, describes the trade alliances that crisscross Latin America as a "bowl of spaghetti". The sheer number of trade agreements signed or initiated in the past decade has driven the demand for technical advice on trade and trade policy issues through the roof says Pedro Motta Veiga, a LATN member, consultant with Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry and the Foundation for Foreign Trade Studies (FUNCEX), and advisor to the Brazilian government.

"At the beginning of the ‘90s, we had some sectoral trade negotiations and the General Agreement on Tarriffs and Trade. Now, we are negotiating with MERCOSUR (the customs union of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) and the European Union, and there is talk of a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Domestic issues are now part of the multilateral process. We now have a broad agenda and there are many more players, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, three or four other ministries, business associations, and trade unions. There is a real demand for advice on technical issues such as market access and rules of origin."

But LATN, he believes, is doing more than just meeting the demand.

"The policy briefs they produce are useful for the private sector and government. My own experience confirms this," he says. "But beyond technical advice, I think LATN is also good at anticipating new issues and discussions like trade, investment, and macroeconomics."

Kevin Conway is a writer with IDRC's Communications Division.

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