WTO Report --Latin America

["dms" <dmschanoes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From the WTO World Trade Report 2003:

For the Latin American Region, 2002 turned out to be one of the most
difficutl years since the debt crisis of the 1980s.  .....there was a
curtailment of net capital flows into the region.  This reduction had
already begun in 2001, and there was a sharp fall again in 2002.  Even FDI
inflows, which had continued to enter in large volumes in 2001, contracted
last year...... Given that the level of many commodity prices remained low
in 2002, this limited export earning of many countries in the region, while
the huge contraction in economic activity significantly dampened imports.

The financial cirisin in Argentina, the economic repercussions on its
MERCOSUR neighbors, and the civil unrest in Venezuela were the major factos
contributing to the contraction of Latin America's merchandise import by
nearly 7 percent in 2002.....

....In 2000 intra-MERCOSUR trade had accounted for one fifth of both total
exports and imports. But... these shares have fallen precipitously.  In the
case of exports, the intra-MERCOSUR share has now been cut  almost by half
(from 20 to 11 per cent).....the share of intra-MERCOSUR imports has fallen
back to levels last seen in 1995.
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A rich man can always get through poor times better than a poor man.

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