Tuesday July 25, 2006

The Latin American Century

business-times.asia1.com.sg :

As I listened to officials from Panama outlining plans to widen their famous canal, in order to link Latin America's thriving economies more closely with each other and with the rest of the world, I sensed a continent being knit ever tighter together by political and economic ties, rich in resources and at one with itself.

It was hard to avoid contrasting this with Asia where Japan, China and the Koreas appear to be locked in internecine strife; South Asia is beset with tension; conflicts simmer from East Timor to Sri Lanka; and overall energy resources are scarce. Could this, in fact, turn out to be the 'Latin American Century', as nations of the huge and contiguous continent consolidate their economic and democratic systems.

Latin America's natural resource endowment is turning out to be a blessing. Crude oil deposits on the continent are, according to Panama officials, equal in size to those in the former Soviet Union. The Republic of Panama is a microcosm of a success story that seems to be spreading throughout Latin America. It is, if you will, the Singapore of that continent, a fast-growing logistics hub that has become the second largest free port in the world after Hong Kong.

(2006-07-25 06:55:35 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

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