By Jaime Mejía
The current global economic scenario is not the most encouraging due to the slowdown of economies such as China and Russia, the drop in crude oil prices and other commodities.
But this scene presents an opportunity for Latin America to stand out and take the lead once again as a global economic engine.
That is the view of Stegan Selig, Undersecretary of International Trade of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In an exclusive interview with Latin Trade, Selig gave his reasons for being so optimistic about Latin America’s future in the short-term amidst a gloomy global scenario.
The performance of the region’s economies are the reason for being optimistic, Selig said.
Although there are negative forecasts about the global economy, there are four Latin American countries –Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile– with growth projections between 2 and 3.5 percent, figures worthy of mention.
It is no coincidence that those four countries are performing differently from the rest of the region. Each one has policies aimed at economic growth and boosting trade, and offer better conditions for investors.
Nowadays, Selig adds, you can’t generalize in Latin America because in the middle of the global gloom, these four countries are standing out.
Since January 2014, Selig is in charge of promoting U.S. trade interests and he believes that Mexico is a case that can serve as an example of what Latin America has to offer when proper policies are …