The green transition, artificial intelligence, increased demand for food, and the reconfiguration of the international order open new opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of investment, productivity, and quality employment.
The region is well positioned to leverage them due to strategic assets such as its renewable energies, critical minerals, food agricultural capacity, and biodiversity, though these assets will not automatically translate into development, stated José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at the launch of the report Latin American Economic Outlook 2026: Deepening Integration into a Changing Global Economy (LEO 2026), held during the XVI Ibero-American Business Meeting.
