IMF-OECD High-Level Conference: Making reforms happen in Latin America

Antonio Spilimbergo, Deputy Director, Research Department, IMF
Luiz de Mello, Director, Economics Department, OECD

Chair: Aida Caldera Sanchez, Head of Division, Economics Department, OECD

• Regional Perspective on Labor Market Issues – Pablo Ibarraran, Division Chief, Social Protection and Labor Markets Division, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
• Informality and Social Protection – Alberto Gonzalez Pandiella, Deputy Head of Division, Economics Department, OECD
• Costa Rica: Reforms to Strengthen Labor Skills – Juan Pablo Jiménez Murillo, Director, FDI Policy Division, Ministry of Foreign Trade, Costa Rica

• Fostering Growth through Business Dynamism – Armine Khachatryan, Senior Economist, Western Hemisphere Department, IMF
• The Determinants of Business Investment – Filiz Unsal, Deputy Director of Economics Department, OECD
• Boosting Growth in Uruguay through Structural Reforms and Artificial Intelligence – Christopher Michael Evans, Economist, Western Hemisphere Department, IMF

Chair: Esteban Vesperoni, Division Chief, Regional Studies Division, Western Hemisphere Department, IMF

• Foundations for Growth and Competitiveness – Dan Andrews, Head of Division, Economics Department, OECD
• The Political Economy of Reforms 3.0 – Mariano Tommasi, Professor of Economics, Director of the Center of Studies for Human Development at Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina
• Forces shaping the playing field for economic growth in Latin America. – Marcela Meléndez, Deputy Chief Economist, Latin American and Caribbean Chief Economist Office, World Bank

Chair: Paula Garda, Senior Economist, Economics Department, OECD

• Distributional Effects of Taxation in Latin America – Carola Pessino, Senior Consultant, Fiscal Management Division, IDB
• Brazil: VAT Reform – Bernard Appy, Extraordinary Secretary for Tax Reform, Ministry of Finance, Brazil
• Why are Tax Rates High and Procyclical in Developing Economies? Implications for Growth-Enhancing Tax Reforms – Luis Fernando Mejía, Executive Director, Fedesarrollo, Colombia

Chair: Lusine Lusinyan, Deputy Division Chief, Regional Studies Division, Western Hemisphere Department, IMF

• Reform Experience in Estonia – Ardo Hansson, Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, Estonia
• Reform Experience in Ireland – John McCarthy, Chief Economist at Ireland’s Department of Finance
• Overcoming Political Barriers to Sustainable Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean – Carlos Scartascini, Lead Economist, Research Department, IDB

Andrés Velasco, Dean of the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Policy Science; former Minister of Finance of Chile

Chair: Gabriel Oddone, Minister of Economy and Finance, Uruguay

Panel participants:

• [Virtual] Carlos Gustavo Fernández Valdovinos, Minister of Finance, Paraguay
• Omar Licandro, Professor of Economics, University of Leicester, and Executive Secretary, RIDGE.
• Luiz de Mello, Director, Economics Department, OECD
• Antonio Spilimbergo, Deputy Director, Research Department, IMF

2:15pm Conference concludes