Investment, trade in services and competition in Central America

This program is a joint effort of the World Trade Institute and INCAE Business School supported by the World Bank and the Government of Spain. 35 officials and managers from both private and public sectors in Central America participated in this week long module that addressed the issues of competition policy, trade in services and investment.

The course focused on the legal and economic foundations of competition policy, and explored the salience of greater competition policy activism to realizing the full benefits of deeper integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Trade, investment and competition policies interact in complex ways, mostly complementing each other, but there are areas in areas where there is a normative overlap over the same economic conducts. The module continued with an in-depth examination of the law and economics of trade in services in the Latin American context and addressed key outstanding sectoral and rule-making challenges in services negotiations and the implementation of market access commitments in trade agreements. The course then focused on the rapidly evolving landscape of investment rules and litigation under bilateral investment treaties and preferential trade agreements.

The fourth module of the Regional Economic Integration Program will take place from 25 to 30 July, at the INCAE Business School campus in Managua Nicaragua, and will address emergence challenges in the regional economic integration agenda such as trade and climate change, trade remedies and dispute settlement under the global economic downturn.