Mariana Mazzucato launches ECLAC report in Buenos Aires
27 October 2022
Professor Mariana Mazzucato has officially launched her new United Nations-backed report, Transformational Change in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Mission-Oriented Approach, at a prestigious event in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
On Tuesday 25 October, ECLAC hosted the report launch event as part of the 39th ECLAC Annual Sessions, held from 24-26th October 2022. Professor Mazzucato explained that she wrote the report to help progressive governments have a real, workable plan for wealth generation for all. It presents a new approach to industrial strategy to tackle the region’s social and economic challenges, including lagging productivity, weak public sector capabilities, and dependence on natural resources for economic development.
“The question is, how can we actually solve the big, grand challenges of our time – health, digital divide, climate – but in such a way that is driven by investment and innovation, which, if it works well, can really help us solve or at least address these massive structural issues,” said Professor Mazzucato.
Professor Mariana Mazzucato speaking at the launch event
She was joined on stage by Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Daniel Filmus, Argentina’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Jose Antonio Ocampo, Colombia’s Minister of Finance, and Luis Felipe López-Calva, Global Director of Poverty and Equity at the World Bank.
“The history of the region’s development shows that market forces alone cannot solve the problems of growth, investment, employment and poverty. That is why it is more important than ever to harness the opportunity that this moment in time offers: formulating and implementing policies aimed at productive transformation and diversification and that would contribute to social inclusion and environmental sustainability,” said Salazar-Xirinachs.
Professor Mariana Mazzucato speaks at the opening session with Professor Joseph Stiglitz to her right
On Sunday 23 October, Professor Mazzucato had a private dinner with President Alberto Fernández of Argentina and several of the country’s ministers, including Sergio Massa, Minister of Economy, Santiago Cafiero, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship, and Daniel Filmus, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation. The group had a productive conversation about the challenges the country and the region are facing and how to transform these into opportunities.
President Alberto Fernandez and Professor Mariana Mazzucato
Professor Mazzucato’s time in Buenos Aires is part of a longer trip to Latin America. Having been in Bogotá to meet with the Colombian Government, she is now in Santiago, Chile to bring her report to key decision makers in the Chilean Government.
For more information
New Missions for Latin America – Professor Mazzucato explains more about the report in this article for Project Syndicate.
A recording of the report launch is available on YouTube: -