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On Monday, December 11th, the Inter-American Dialogue will convene a panel of experts to examine prospects for Latin American participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Although the Latin American and Caribbean region isn’t formally part of the BRI, China has expressed some openness in recent months to the region’s eventual inclusion. Chinese President Xi Jinping called the LAC region “a natural extension of the Maritime Silk Road” in a May 2017 meeting with Argentine head of state Mauricio Macri, and has since called Mexico and Panama “critical nodes” in the BRI’s “natural extension.” A recent Joint Communiqué between Argentina and China also references the BRI framework. To what extent will the region feature in future BRI planning? Should Latin America expect more interest from China in regional infrastructure projects in the coming years? In what ways is China already working to connect the Americas? And what can Latin American nations do to attract sustainable infrastructure investment and related financing in the coming years? 

Spanish/English simultaneous interpretation will be provided for this event. 

Speakers

Yu Yue

Minister Counselor, Chinese Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States, Embassy of China

Luis Fiallo

Managing Director of Business Development, China Telecom Americas

Matt Ferchen

Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy

Moderator

Margaret Myers

Director, Latin America and the World Program, Inter-American Dialogue