During the inauguration of the first meeting of the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation, the official called to avoid a third lost decade, after those that occurred in the 80s of last century and between 2014 and this year.

As a consequence of the chronic economic slowdown, a phenomenon prior to the crises caused by the pandemic, the global financial turmoil and the war in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean face serious problems, he said.

On average, over the last 10 years, regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has been 0,8%, the official explained, and he called for innovative efforts to reverse this trend.

Salazar-Xirinachs recalled that of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN for 2030, in our area only a quarter have been met or will be met before the proposed date. Forty-eight percent of the goals are moving in the right direction, but not at the required speed, and 27 out of 100 show setbacks.

This is compounded by complex external conditions, including rising public debt service costs and financing constraints.

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