OECD Latin America and Caribbean 4th Ministerial Summit on Productivity in Brasília

The Australia Latam Emerging Leaders Dialogue (ALELD) team had the privilege to partner with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the lead up to the OECD Latin America and Caribbean 4th Ministerial Summit on Productivity in Brasília, Brazil.

On Tuesday 21 June 2022, ‘The Youth Side of Productivity’ webinar was held virtually to hear about how we can address the school-to-work transition and successfully engage youth into the labour market. The two-part event attracted over 80 participants, with ALELD’s Director of Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, Dominic McCarthy, being the Master of Ceremonies. Dr Erin Watson, Founder and Chair of ALELD, delivered opening remarks alongside José Antonio Ardavin, Head of the Latin America and Caribbean Division at the OECD. Veerle Miranda, Senior Economist in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs of the OECD, presented on the OECD’s key economic indicators for youth employment, education and productivity across the region. Session 1 was moderated by OECD Young Associate and Mexican Y20 Representative, Daniela Sena, with discussions on the school-to-work transition and comments from representatives from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia and the International Organisation for Youth.Rafael J. Féliz, Minister for Youth from the Dominican Republic, appointed to the position last year at the age of 25 years old, shared his views and country’s priorities to increase digital accessibility. Vice Minister Cinthya Game from Ecuador’s Ministry for Education discussed the initiatives in place in Ecuador and their focus on digital education and training. Roberto Hinestrosa, Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, shared about the National Youth Council program held in Bogota, Colombia, and recognised the need for young people to develop sustainable life plans through entrepreneurship. Finally, Max Trejo, Secretary General of the International Organisation for Youth, emphasised that young people need to be brought to the solutions side of productivity.  

The second part of the webinar explored the theme of how to successfully engage young people into the labour market. The Australia Latam Emerging Leaders Dialogue (ALELD) was represented by Pedro Pérez-Segnini from Venezuela and Rosario Rutilo from Argenta. Pedro shared about his experiences relocating to Australia and the need for cross-cutting skills that can adapt to the ever-changing labour market. Rosario discussed how youth Argentina can better listen to youth voices and challenge perspectives of young people to put them front and centre. The two other panellists, representatives from the OECD’s Youthwise program, Erika Xananine Calvillo from Mexico and Rebeca Quesada from Costa Rica, shared their perspectives and views, including the need to value youth work through renumeration for internships. 

The event was generously delivered in partnership with the Australian Embassy in Brazil who supported the live translations in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Thank you for their support and sponsorship. 

Later in the week, the Australia Latam Emerging Leaders Dialogue (ALELD) was invited to participate in the OECD’s Latin America and Caribbean 4th Ministerial Summit on Productivity in Brasília, Brazil. Organised in conjunction with the Global Forum on Productivity and Brazil’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the two-day conference gathered senior officials from OECD and LAC countries, international organisations and representatives from both the private sector and civil society to examine strategies and actions for the LAC region to achieve a productive, human-centred and sustainable integration in the world economy. The Australia Latam Emerging Leaders Dialogue (ALELD) was represented by our Director of Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, Dominic McCarthy, who was the only Australian in attendance.

The opening session titled: ‘Towards a productive, human-centred and sustainable integration of Latin America and Caribbean in the world economy’, set the pace for several insightful presentations and speeches. Secretary General of the OECD, Mathias Cormann, discussed strengthening institutions, shared goals, global economic integration, embracing digital transformation, easing regulatory burdens, skills shortage and focusing on a human-centred approach to boost productivity. 

Prior to his appointment to the OECD, Mr Cormann served as the Australian Minister for Finance, the Leader of the Government in the Australian Senate and as Federal Senator representing the State of Western Australia. Mr Cormann is the first Secretary-General from the Asia-Pacific region and the first Secretary-General from Australia. He recently announced that ascension plans for Argentina, Brazil and Peru had been signed to become full-members of the OECD.

Highlights from the Summit included discussions from Gustavo Montezano – President of the Brazilian Development Bank, Manuel Tovar – Costa Rica Minister of Trade, Oscar Llamosas – Paraguay Minister of Finance, Paulo Guedes – Brazil Minister of Economy, Ragneihour Elín Árnadóttir – OECD Development Centre Director, José Carlos Oliveria – Brazil Minister of Labour and Social Security, Anabel González – Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Ignacio Ybáñez – European Union Ambassador to Brazil, Jorge Enrique Gonzálex Garnica – Colombia Deputy Minister of Business Development and William Maloney – Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank.

The Australia Latam Emerging Leaders Dialogue (ALELD) also featured in a video montage that highlighted several of our team members’ strategies and views on how Latin America and the Caribbean can harness their capacity to fully participate in the world economy. 

Thank you to the whole team from the OECD’s Latin America and Caribbean Regional Programme for the opportunity to collaborate on a webinar event and the invitation to attend the Ministerial Summit. For more information on the OECD LAC 4th Ministerial Summit on Productivity and access to recordings of sessions, please visit this website: https://oecd-events.org/lac-productivity/en/