Speaking at the G77+China Summit, Salazar-Xirinachs congratulated the Cuban government for calling this meeting on such a relevant issue: science and innovation.

Salazar-Xirinachs urged to promote new policies that allow the countries of the Global South to develop their capacities, and also stated there are many opportunities at regional levels for cooperation and promotion of the UN 2030 Agenda.

He informed there are two intergovernmental platforms called by ECLAC in the sectors analyzed in the Summit.

On the one hand, the Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean, and on the other hand the Conference on Science, Innovation and Information and Communication Technologies, whose fourth conference will be held in early 2024.

ECLAC makes these regional platforms available to support actions that emerge as a result of this Summit, said the executive secretary. The UN agency considers it a challenge to boost the economy in a region that grew only 0.8% annually in the last 10 years, less than the 2% reported in the famous lost decade of the 80s.

To overcome the low-growth trap and speed up progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Salazar-Xirinachs proposed a series of driving or energizing sectors, such as the energy transition, digital transformation, sustainable agriculture and the bioeconomy, trade in modern services, the care society, the circular economy, and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

“The G77+China is an example of multilateralism in action,” Salazar- Xirinachs stated, adding that ECLAC -along with other regional commissions, is fully committed to supporting G77+China and the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

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