Sesión extraordinaria

CONSEJO PERMANENTE DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS ESTADOS AMERICANOS

ACTA DE LA SESIÓN EXTRAORDINARIA CELEBRADA EL

9 DE MARZO DE 2022

Nómina de los miembros que asistieron a la sesión

En la ciudad de Washington, D. C., a las diez y cinco minutos de la mañana del miércoles 9 de marzo de 2022, celebró sesión extraordinaria el Consejo Permanente de la Organización de los Estados Americanos con el objeto de considerar el tema “Fomento del esfuerzo laboral”. Presidió la sesión el Embajador Everson Hull, Representante Permanente de Saint Kitts y Nevis y Presidente el Consejo Permanente. Asistieron los siguientes miembros:

Embajadora Lou-Anne Gilchrist, Representante Permanente de San Vicente y las Granadinas

y Vicepresidenta del Consejo Permanente

Embajador Anthony Phillips-Spencer, Representante Permanente de Trinidad y Tobago

Embajadora Rita Claverie de Sciolli, Representante Permanente de Guatemala

Embajador Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado, Representante Permanente de Colombia

Embajador Carlos Alberto Játiva Naranjo, Representante Permanente del Ecuador

Embajador Noel Anderson Lynch, Representante Permanente de Barbados

Embajadora Yolande Yvonne Smith, Representante Permanente de Grenada

Embajador Gustavo Tarre, Representante Permanente de Venezuela

Embajadora Luz Elena Baños Rivas, Representante Permanente de México

Embajador Hugh Adsett, Representante Permanente del Canadá

Embajadora María del Carmen Roquebert León, Representante Permanente de Panamá

Embajador Josué Antinoe Fiallo, Representante Permanente de la República Dominicana

Embajadora Alejandra Solano, Representante Permanente de Costa Rica

Embajador Carlos Alberto Raimundi, Representante Permanente de la Argentina

Embajador Washington Abdala, Representante Permanente del Uruguay

Embajador Issa Kort Garriga, Representante Permanente de Chile

Embajador Héctor Arce Zaconeta, Representante Permanente de Bolivia

Embajador Samuel Hinds, Representante Permanente de Guyana

Embajador Léon Charles, Representante Permanente de Haití

Embajador Arturo McFields, Representante Permanente de Nicaragua

Embajador Otávio Brandelli, Representante Permanente del Brasil

Señora Judith-Anne Rolle, Representante Interina de Dominica

Embajadora Wendy Acevedo, Representante Interina de El Salvador

Segunda Secretaria Juanita Cleopatra Lont, Representante Interina de Suriname

Señor Bradley A. Freden, Representante Interino de los Estados Unidos

Señor Raúl Mariano Martínez Villalba, Representante Interino del Paraguay

Ministra Consejera Joy-Dee Davis-Lake, Representante Alterna de Antigua y Barbuda

Señora Jevi-Anne Danielle Charlery-Marcellin, Representante Alterna de Santa Lucía

Ministra Consejera Saira Esmeralda Ponce Rosales, Representante Alterna de Honduras

Ministro Deon L. Williams, Representante Alterno de Jamaica

Consejero Michael Anthony Mena, Representante Alterno de Belize

Ministra Consejera Ana Gabriela Vásquez Rivas, Representante Alterna del Perú

Consejera Sonia Rosita Boddie-Thompson, Representante Alterna de Saint Kitts y Nevis

Estuvieron también presentes el Secretario General, Luis Almagro Lemes, y el Secretario General Adjunto, Embajador Nestor Mendez, Secretario del Consejo Permanente.

Aprobación del orden del día

El PRESIDENTE: Good morning distinguished permanent representatives; alternate representatives; Mr. Secretary General; Mr. Assistant Secretary General; permanent observers; our very special experts: The Honorable Mark Brantley, Larry Quinlan, and Enrique Pérez; ladies and gentlemen.

Following verification of the quorum by the Secretariat, I am pleased to declare open this special meeting of the Permanent Council, which has been convened by the Chair, pursuant to the authority vested in the Chair in Article 37 of the Rules of Procedure, for the purpose of considering the topic entitled ‘Incentivizing Work Effort,’ as contained in the order of business, document CP/OD-2367/22, which I hereby submit for the consideration of this Permanent Council.

[El proyecto de orden del día contiene los siguientes puntos:

1. Aprobación del orden del día (CP/OD-2367/22)

2. Fomento del esfuerzo laboral

- Presentaciones a cargo de:

- Excmo. Mark Brantley, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Aviación de Saint Kitts y Nevis

- Señor Larry Quinlan, exdirector de Información Global de Deloitte, LLP

- Señor Enrique Pérez Sámano, Socio Senior para Clientes, Korn-Ferry Consulting, México

- Intervenciones de las delegaciones de los Estados Miembros]

There being no observations or comments, we will proceed to adopt it without amendment.

Approved.

Fomento del esfuerzo laboral

El PRESIDENTE: Dear colleagues, as I informed you in the special meeting held on February 9, in which we had the opportunity to discuss the declining labor productivity rates and the human capital exodus in our region, the Chair convened today’s special meeting to continue those discussions, this time focusing on how to effectively incentivize work effort in each of our countries.

The presenters at the February 9 special meeting addressed several causal factors that place a severe drag on the growth and prosperity of the region. It was Dr. William Maloney, the Chief Economist of the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean, who described the region as “stalled and grumpy.”

There is no question but that the revolution in technological innovation has played a major role in influencing growth and prosperity. Virtually every meeting that one attends today invariably references the importance of technological innovation.

Missing from many of those presentations is a focus on the individual, the single most important asset in any production process. Also missing is the reality that technology is most effective when it is built on a solid platform that fosters growth and prosperity, that is robust, with a low debt-to-GDP ratio, and also has a governance framework that provides the incentives and enabling environment for enterprises to operate efficiently.

Although several countries in our region have experienced an improvement in their socioeconomic development, as measured by their scores on the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), there are still economic challenges facing the region; among them are declining economic growth rates, high levels of unemployment, pockets of poverty, and high levels of public debt. Each of these factors has a dampening effect on the flow of income across the region, making us worse off rather than better off.

Setting aside the United States and Canada, the average per capita income for the Organization of American States (OAS) region is US$16,000. By contrast, the per capital income of Singapore, when it became independent in 1965, was actually in the same pay group as a few of our larger Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries. Today, Singapore has broken out of the pack and remains close to the head of the global class, with a per capita income of US$93,000.

The stark reality is that, as productivity is reduced across our region, income levels contract, and often the best and brightest head for the exits and seek refuge in the United States, where the per capita income is US$64,000. The very damaging effect of this is that the region has a residual labor force that is unprepared to meet the demands of a technologically driven knowledge economy.

In this context, today we will hear expert presentations from our three panelists on the topic of ‘Incentivizing Work Effort.’ To explore these issues, I now turn to the first of our three experts, the Honorable Mark A.G. Brantley, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation of the Federal Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Premier of Nevis.

The Minister will draw attention to the fundamentals and the robust platform that Saint Kitts and Nevis has built that is well suited to embracing an incentive-based compensation program.

The biographies of our distinguished panelists have been distributed by the Secretariat in the following document: CP/INF. 9308/22. So, I will merely extract some of their very significant accomplishments that are think are worth mentioning.

Presentaciones a cargo de:

Excmo. Mark Brantley, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Aviación de Saint Kitts y Nevis

El PRESIDENTE: I note that the Honorable Mark Brantley is a lawyer by profession who received his Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of the West Indies at the Cave Hill Campus in 1992, and his Legal Education Certificate from the Norman Manley Law School in 1994. He was awarded the Certificate of Merit from the Norman Manley Law School, only the fourth such award in the long history of the law school, and he graduated first in his class. He earned a Bachelors in Civil Law from the University of Oxford in 1995, having won the Winter Williams Commonwealth Scholarship to attend that prestigious English university.

Premier Brantley has been leading the island during this unprecedented time of COVID-19. In March 2020, he announced that he would forgo his entire salary and benefits as Premier of Nevis until the pandemic was over. He continues to forgo his salary as Premier of Nevis twenty-two months after his initial announcement.

I am honored to welcome His Excellency the Honorable Mark A.G. Bratley, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation of Saint Kitts and Nevis and my own Parliamentary Representative for the place that locals often refer to as the “Great Metropolis of Bath.” It happens to be a short distance away from the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, the First Secretary of the United States Treasury.

Your Excellency Mark Brantley, welcome to the Organization of American States (OAS) Permanent Council!

You have the floor, Sir.

El MINISTRO DE RELACIONES EXTERIORES Y AVIACIÓN DE SAINT KITTS Y NEVIS: Dr. Everson Hull, I now run the risk of my resume being longer than my speech this morning. Suddenly, I sound quite impressive on paper. So, I am delighted to be here. Let me greet my dear friend, Assistant Secretary General, His Excellency Nestor Mendez; my brother, I trust that all is well with you. Let me, of course, greet His Excellency Dr. Everson Hull, Permanent Representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis, who is now Chair of the Permanent Council. I also greet the Vice Chair of the Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Her Excellency Lou-Anne Gaylene Gilchrist. Distinguished permanent and alternate representatives, distinguished permanent observers, ladies and gentlemen. I bid you good morning from the island of Nevis, where I am today, and I am delighted to be part of this very important discussion.

I start by indicating, of course, that I am not an expert. I am happy that Dr. Hull has indicated that there are two experts on the panel, and I am just along to give some context.

It gives me immense pleasure to be here today, albeit virtually, especially at a time when my own country, Saint Kitts and Nevis, through His Excellency Dr. Everson Hull, is chairing this august body. Permit me to use this opportunity, therefore, to congratulate our distinguished Permanent Representative, His Excellency Dr. Everson Hull, for his stellar stewardship of this, the Organization of American States (OAS) Permanent Council.

I am delighted, ladies and gentlemen, to share with you a few areas in which the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis has been performing well; a few areas where it needs to improve its performance with the assistance and guidance of the experts who are on the panel today, and how certainly we can best address what has been referred to as a sustained thirty-year decline in productivity in our Latin American and the Caribbean region.

The decline in productivity, as measured by output per man hour, is deeply troubling. It is an issue of major national concern and, I would suggest, of major regional concern. It dampens the flow of foreign direct investment throughout our region; it impacts employment and the flow of income; and, significantly, it propels human capital flight, as our best and brightest head for better environments for them to earn, leaving behind in our region a suboptimal labor force that needs improvement in producing the highly valued technologically driven marketable goods and services that are critically important for propelling our countries forward.

As Dr. Everson Hull would have stated in the February 9 presentation to this august body, the region’s performance was described by Dr. William Maloney, the very distinguished Chief Economist for the World Bank’s Latin American and Caribbean Region, as being “stalled and grumpy.” Being from the Caribbean region, we are never described as “grumpy,” so the terminology that Dr. Maloney used was, of course, quite interesting.

As noted by Dr. Hull in his introduction, the question really turns on how we fix it. How do we reverse a thirty-year decline in productivity that has trapped our region in an episode of lethargic growth and limited prosperity? Each of our OAS member states, I submit, offers a foundation on which we can build. For some countries, clearly, the challenges will be greater than others. But I offer for your consideration a few of the fundamentals as they relate to my own country, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and as they relate to our successes and failures in confronting the challenges that each of our countries face.

Of course, where there are successes, we should recognize and laud those achievements and, indeed, try to learn from each other where there are best practices. It is incumbent upon us as an Organization to learn from each other and to implement those best practices.

Where there are failures—and there are some, to be sure—we must acknowledge them and acknowledge that we have more work to do. It is my hope that from their participation here today, the experts on this panel will give some framework and some ideas about building out the architecture of a potential response to these difficulties that we face, and about how we can move beyond being “stalled and grumpy.”

Some fundamental achievements here in Saint Kitts and Nevis: We are the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere, and the smallest member state of the Organization of American States. Notwithstanding our size, we have been able, for many decades now, to provide free, mandatory education up to the secondary level, and I say free and mandatory education because it is a criminal offense here for children who are under the age of sixteen not to be sent to school.

We have been the first within the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union to achieve the debt-to-GDP target of 60 percent that was established by the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). Indeed, as of December 2021, the debt-to-GDP ratio of Saint Kitts and Nevis was 46,5 percent, which I believe is quite commendable and in context, we have moved on from a decade ago, when it was almost 150 percent. So, to move from there to where we are now, I think is quite commendable.

The decline in outstanding public debt has produced a series of fiscal surpluses since 2015. The current account budget surpluses have provided us with some fiscal space for social intervention in delivering a wide range of goods and services, including an earlier entry than most to confronting the social and socioeconomic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic without having to knock on the door of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank.

We have been the first among the Eastern Caribbean countries in GDP per capita, as mentioned by Dr. Everson Hull. We are third now among the thirty-four OAS member states and our GDP per capita, as of 2019, stood at just over US$27,000.

Net migration rates from Saint Kitts and Nevis are among the lowest in our region, and we were the highest in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union in the number of pre-pandemic total visitors, cruise calls, and cruise passengers, between 2017 and 2019.

Saint Kitts and Nevis has made significant strides in the area of technology. Indeed, as a primary response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we adopted a blended approach to education, where our students were equipped with the necessary technological tools, our teachers were equipped and trained with the necessary tools, and we had some face-to-face teaching and some online teaching. We blended those two approaches, and our students have, remarkably, performed quite well in the circumstances. We had, in essence, to re-tool our education system to make this possible. We are currently working on introducing e-passports this year, which will continue to ensure that we are in the forefront of technology. We have also been able to provide digital education for most of our students during the pandemic, and this will now become a feature of our education system moving forward.

For 2022, this year, we hope to focus on investing in the expansion of digital assets and infrastructure needed to support hybrid approaches to learning, upgrading the competence of our teachers to effectively engage and support learners in the virtual educational space, and enhancing cybersecurity awareness to improve safety during online engagement and to protect our investment in devices and applications.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have given a snapshot of some of the things that we have been good at, and some of the responses that we have provided, particularly in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is work to do. For example, Saint Kitts and Nevis has ranked very low in the ease of doing business. The World Bank’s measure puts us at 139 out of 199 countries and territories ranked in the World Bank’s index of the ease of doing business. This means, therefore, that we are doing badly on that particular matrix.

This brings us to the key issue of how we fix it. As Premier of Nevis and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Kitts and Nevis, I will tell you that productivity continues to be a major concern for us. Our people, particularly in our public service—and I believe that this, arguably, is true for many member states of the OAS—have an approach that is lethargic at best. The approach seems to be low output and, sometimes, one may argue, no output from workers who are in positions sometimes for which they are perhaps not particularly suited, but are in positions because they have occupied them for a very long time. We have workers who have failed and/or refuse to update their skill sets in terms of training, in terms of technology, and we have a perennial problem with persons being late for work, persons taking an extra half hour for lunch, persons leaving early in the afternoons.

Here in Nevis, we have this notion of showing up late and calling it ‘Nevis time.’ It is a cultural phenomenon, it seems, in some parts of the region, and I can speak for Saint Kitts and Nevis, that being late because it is our culture.

I believe that those are some of the issues, some of the almost cultural and sociocultural issues that we would have to confront and address. And one of the ways that we can address this is by incentivizing performance. The approach now in much of our public service and in some parts of our private sector seems to be that it is a one-size-fits-all approach, and that persons are paid in the public service, for example, according to a scale. So, if you are at a particular point in your scale, you receive that salary that is assigned to that scale regardless of your performance.

The question is whether or not we can move to a point where those that are the best in class, those that are performing best in class, are incentivized over and above the norm. And so, in the context of public service, if one finds him or herself on a particular salary scale, there is an incentive or additional payment that is offered to those workers that are performing, those workers who are at work on time, those workers who are conscientious and who give of their best, those workers who have the public interest and the public service at heart and go above and beyond, and there are some of those.

Conversely, if we continue the practice of compensating everyone at the same level, it means that—and I have seen that happening here at a practical approach—some individuals simply say, “Well, I am not going to give that extra effort because there is no reward in it for me.” That if I am going to get the same pay as the person who is perennially late, the same compensation as the person who is perennially absent, then there is no incentive for me to do more. And, so we dampen down the performance of everyone by not incentivizing the performance of those who do well.

Equally, I would argue, if we were to incentivize the performance of those who do well, that would have a bottom-up effect in the sense that others will be motivated. “I want to be like him or her because they are making more, they are doing better because of their performance.”

From a public service point of view, this is a serious problem for us, and we have often made the mistake of trying to solve that problem by hiring more people rather than seeking to hire the best people, the people who will, in fact, perform. And the process of hiring more people has led to a perennial problem throughout our region of having large public sectors with large wage bills, and that has proven difficult for many of us in terms of the budgetary process and how we manage it.

I said at the outset that my purpose here was to give some context and some background. It is a matter that is well worth discussion. I thank Dr. Hull for raising this and perhaps forcing us all to think about how we treat compensation, how we incentivize work effort in a different way. Hopefully, this conversation will lead to a change in approach and a change in policy across the Organization of American States, across the member states, and, certainly, I hope here, in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

I know that we are pressed for time. I know that you are not here to hear from me but from the experts, and so I will just end by thanking you, Dr. Hull, and thanking His Excellency Nestor Mendez, my dear friend, and all those present for the opportunity to engage and to be a part of this discussion and the opportunity to listen to the experts. Hopefully, we can continue this conversation well beyond the Chairmanship of Dr. Everson Hull, as we seek to re-engineer our region and to make us best in class.

I will end by the observation that, notwithstanding that Saint Kitts and Nevis has a GDP per capita of just over US$27,000, and despite the fact that we are third in the Organization of American States and first in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in terms of per capita GDP, we are still at only one-third of where Singapore is. This therefore means that there is a tremendous level of work needed, and I believe that the OAS is well positioned, through its leadership, to change the narrative and to get us to where we want to go: To a more productive society, a more productive community, a more productive country, a more productive region, and that the next time that the World Bank comes to speak to you that we can say, with one acclaim, that we are no longer “stalled” and that we are no longer “grumpy.”

Thank you very much for the opportunity. I will now listen offline.

Thank you.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Your Excellency, for your most informative presentation. I must say that you have really hit the nail on the head in several areas. You have identified a number of fundamentals which are very, very important, and you have also identified those areas where we have performed well and those where we need to do additional work. So, thank you very much for that presentation.

Señor Larry Quinlan, exdirector de Información Global de Deloitte, LLP

El PRESIDENTE: I am now pleased to offer the floor to Dr. Larry Quinlan, the former Global Chief Information Officer for Deloitte. Born in Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Quinlan has over thirty-five years of experience creating value through inspired strategic leadership. He is a digital and technology transformation expert with extensive experience in complex enterprise systems, integrations, cybersecurity, in complex enterprise systems, in technology, organizational design, and global shared services modules.

He is sought after for his understanding of the strategic impact of emerging technologies, including advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, Cloud mobility, Blockchain, 5G, and the Internet of Things.

Dr. Quinlan most recently served as Global Chief Information Officer for Deloitte, the professional services firm with a revenue of over US$45 billion. He had responsibilities for all facets of technology and operations, overseeing 10,000 information technology professionals in 175 countries.

Dr. Quinlan is passionate about improving opportunities in underserved communities. He joined with other Chief Information Officers to find the TechPACT, an organization committed to bridging the digital divide.

He is an avid boater and scuba diver.

Dr. Quinlan, welcome to the Organization of American States (OAS) Permanent Council.

You have the floor, Sir.

El EXDIRECTOR DE INFORMACIÓN GLOBAL DE DELOITTE: Dr. Hull, thank you so much for inviting me. I truly appreciate the introduction. I would like to observe the protocols that have been put in place and say thank you to everyone, and it is a pleasure to be here.

As you heard, I am a technology leader by background and, as a result, you would expect me to come at the topic through a technology lens, given my expertise. The stage has been set; there is a productivity decline in the region that is undeniable. In fact, there has been negative productivity growth since 2014, which must be alarming to all of us.

Investment over GDP ratios has been flat over that period of time. You have heard that migration trends remain problematic, and there is clearly a lack of performance-based infrastructure, incentive infrastructure, in the region. And all of these things put together, I believe, create a burning platform for us to act. So, more setting of the stage: If I think of technology revolutions that have occurred. Through the World Economic Forum, we have popularized this notion now of being in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The First Industrial Revolution was largely mechanical, and the Second Industrial Revolution really focused on transportation and communications, railroads and steam ships and so on. The Third Industrial Revolution, then, really turned its attention to the whole notion of computing and to ways of digitizing the world as we know it. The Fourth Industrial Revolution focuses on automation, data exchange, and platforms like the Cloud, Internet of Things, cognitive artificial intelligence, machine learning and all of those areas.

I believe this Fourth Industrial Revolution will really have an incredible impact on the labor force, on jobs, on productivity, if harnessed well. It could actually have a negative impact, if not. There are some estimates that say that 40 to 50 percent of our jobs will be transformed and, in some cases, eliminated. There is, in fact, a potential, a danger, that this Revolution will widen the gap between developed and developing countries rather than narrowing it, unless we figure out ways of improving our productivity and making this Revolution work for us.

I would argue that there are, in fact, significant ways of increasing productivity using the automation and the platforms that we are seeing. There is more capital per worker, that is a possibility for us, if we choose to make those investments. And those investments then make possible things like truly remote work and, as relatively smaller and underdeveloped nations, the whole notion of conquering time and space through technology and creating remote work and the ability to execute tasks in different territories actually is something that we can harness. Now, there is a lot of cross-national boundary work that has to be done, protocols that have to be put in place, but the ability to separate where the work is done and where it is consumed is a truly exciting concept that I believe could work to our advantage and remove some of the infrastructure barriers that have bedeviled us for quite some time. And, as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the migration to the Cloud, for example, really creates an ability for us to participate in the global digital economy in ways, perhaps, that we have not done before.

There are storm clouds in the horizon, of course; there always are. And regulatory regimes, which are clearly designed to protect certain national interests, do increase the friction in the implementation of some of these platforms around the world, which would allow us to consume them, but still believe that there is really an attractive opportunity for us to participate in the digital economy without the upfront capital expenditures that have made it daunting for us at times.

So, some thoughts on where we could take this in the future: There is this notion of increased competition. While there are clear advantages to our participating in the digital economy without the expenditures, it does increase competition throughout the world—we will now be competing with people that we never see—. That does create a real challenge for us. The increased regulation that I alluded to also creates a challenge. Many of the digital platforms originate in the United States, and there are a number of other countries that have created barriers in an attempt to stimulate the creation of those platforms elsewhere, understandably in some cases. But increased competition and increased regulation force us to ask the question: How do we compete and how do we succeed in a world like this?

I would posit first and foremost that skills development is a fundamental component of this—what we call tech savvy, the ability of the citizens of our nations to be far more savvy about the creation of technology assets, the utilization of those technology assets, and the digitization of our governments and our economies throughout the region, utilizing the platforms of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which include mobility, the Cloud, and a number of the other concepts that we are discussing. Without that skill set, without that human capital innovation, it becomes incredibly difficult to truly exploit the promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A consistent approach to creating that tech savvy, to creating those skills, is an important element of our effort to do so.

Government funding is invaluable, rather than simply leaving it to an uncoordinated private sector approach. Of course, the private sector is vital and ultimately determines success. But there does need to be a managed approach to creating a population that is far more tech savvy, to create technology opportunities and training, and the creation of innovation labs and incubation approaches that make our territories, our nations far more attractive to do business with and make technology investments. A strategy is required to do that, a strategy that encompasses the incubation, the innovation, the training, the online presence, the selection of platforms—all of this requires an intentional strategy in order to make sure that we can make the most of the deployments that we have.

What would we invest in? The good news is that I do not believe that there are significant technologies that will affect us over the next decade that have not yet been talked about. I do not believe that there are technologies that are hiding from us, that will come upon us suddenly, of which we have no knowledge as yet. Technology, while it moves at a rapid pace, signals its presence long in advance, so technologies like migration to the Cloud become an absolute imperative. Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are the innovative things. Investments in cyber become truly important to ensure that we can retain the trust of those we seek to serve. Mobility is an important aspect. And those are some of the technologies. But the capabilities that we have to ensure that our people have—building software is the next Gold Rush, so to speak.

We need populations that actually know how to create scalable software, secure software. This is where the action will be over the next several years, and populations that become truly savvy in creating technology assets will win, and populations that know how to protect that and how to embrace and incubate those kinds of skill sets will win. And there are platforms that we can invest in, such as Fintech and Crypto, and online learning platforms collaboration.

We talked about e-government and digitizing our economies in significant ways, and allowing those digitized economies to be able to create the kinds of IT that we can then export becomes truly important. If I come back, then, to the notion of productivity, I believe that these investments are prerequisites and are part of the platform for increasing productivity in our nations; that it is technology—not technology only, but without technology, without the investments in technology, without the investments in the platforms, without the creation and enhancement of the skill sets, without the adoption of some of the platforms of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it will be impossible to close the gaps, it would be extraordinarily difficult to reverse the negative trend in productivity growth. We live in a world today with those investments in technology, if judiciously applied, can help us improve the productivity growth in our nations.

Dr. Everson Hull, thank you for the invitation, and I will conclude my remarks here.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Dr. Quinlan, for your comprehensive presentation. You have provided much food for thought. The innovations you have mentioned are ones that we need to consider very, very deeply because they point the way to the possibilities that are there. Clearly, you have done a great job in terms of introducing us to those areas that you mentioned.

Señor Enrique Pérez Sámano, Socio Senior para Clientes, Korn-Ferry Consulting, México

El PRESIDENTE: I am now pleased to offer the floor to Mr. Enrique Pérez, Senior Client Partner based in Korn Ferry’s Mexico City office. Mr. Pérez has been a consultant for a large number of companies, both multinational and local.

Mr. Pérez helps multinational companies succeed in the implementation of reward programs at the local level. He has helped many local organizations design and implement performance and reward programs. Over the last fifteen years, he has developed Korn Ferry’s executive remuneration practice in Mexico, working with private and public companies in the region.

Mr. Pérez has extensive consultive experience in Mexico and Central America. He works across most areas of Korn Ferry’s expertise, and has particular expertise in job evaluation, reward strategies, executive compensation, and performance management.

Mr. Pérez, welcome to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS). You have the floor, Sir.

El SOCIO SENIOR PARA CLIENTES, KORN-FERRY CONSULTING, MÉXICO: Thank you, Mr. Everson Hull.

Muchas gracias por la invitación a este evento. Es un placer compartir este tipo de discusiones en el plano regional y es una preocupación latente cómo mejorar la productividad en nuestra región.

Las presentaciones anteriores han puesto un contexto bastante interesante con respecto a lo que está pasando y hay muchas cosas que, desde luego, estamos viendo nosotros mismos en el mercado en que están sucediendo y que nos ponen en una situación complicada como región. Hay avances notables en todo este tema de movilidad y de contratación de personas en diferentes países y vemos que la región se mantiene atrasada con los datos que ya se presentaron hace un momento.

Me voy a permitir poner una breve presentación y platicar sobre la misma.

[Se proyectan diapositivas]

Incentivizing Work Effort

Building prosperity: Implications for beliefs, attitudes and behavior

Quisiera empezar recordando algunas reflexiones de Michael Porter alrededor de la prosperidad y cómo esta se basa en la idea de ser productivos. Como consultor en compensaciones en una buena parte de la región, he observado lo difícil que es implantar programas de pago por productividad en las empresas. Hay múltiples explicaciones para justificar esta dificultad. La realidad es que pensar en términos de resultados y de efectividad no es algo que se de en forma natural en nuestra región. De manera que no basta con diseñar bien un programa de incentivos; es necesario cambiar la forma en que los empleados consumen su empleo y se enfocan en su trabajo.

En múltiples ocasiones, uno se da cuenta de que es muy frecuente que los empleados en el trabajo se queden hablando en realidad alrededor del proceso de trabajo y no del resultado que se espera de ese trabajo. Eso tiene implicaciones y como bien se mencionó hace un momento, y aquí está una cita del doctor Porter, el tema fundamental es la educación. Nos vamos atrasando cada vez más; he ahí una cantidad de opciones para hacer las cosas de manera más efectiva y eso no sucede particularmente en la región.

Incentivizing work: Market research

Lo que voy a presentar ahora son algunos datos que tienen tiempo en realidad solamente para ilustrar estos temas de compensación y productividad. [Problema de audio].

Variable Pay Objectives

Los programas de productividad tienen muchos años. En realidad, los países sajones, como muchos de ustedes saben, tienen más de cien años aplicando números de competitividad que han ido variando básicamente en función de cambios en las legislaciones, cambios en los impuestos, pero tienen muchísimo tiempo y siempre han sido programas cuyo propósito principal es mejorar la productividad financiera y ahora también de las condiciones de vida de los propios países. El tema fundamental es ese; las empresas se enfrentan a cómo poder lograr mejores resultados en el tiempo.

Pay Plan Effectiveness Measures

También podemos ver que los indicadores de un plan de efectividad basado en compensación están asociados a resultados operativos y resultados de productividad del empleado. En general, la construcción de estos planes está alineada a cómo mejoramos el resultado con los insumos que estamos teniendo.

How can programs be improved?

Ahora, quisiera entrar a un tema que para mí es parte del cómo. Cuando uno pregunta qué es lo que hace que el programa no funcione tan bien como podría, la mayoría de las veces tiene que ver con lo que se denomina “line of sight,” la forma en que las personas se relacionan con el resultado esperado y cómo se puede asociar el desempeño individual con el desempeño grupal.

Hay diferentes ejemplos de cómo esto no necesariamente incentiva el trabajo. Uno particular que podría poner de ejemplo en el caso mexicano, es el profit-sharing o reparto de utilidades. En los países sajones, el profit-sharing es un plan de compensación variable por resultados. En México, como en muchos otros países de la región y del mundo, está legalizado; sin embargo, las empresas encuentran difícil poder aplicarlo de manera concreta y hacer que el plan resulte efectivo para mejorar la productividad de sus empleados. Este famoso “line of sight,” entre qué hice yo para lograr el resultado y cómo contribuí, no se ve con tanta claridad. Entonces, en donde hay mucho que hacer en nuestra región es en cómo logramos dar la suficiente información a las personas para que entiendan la relación entre su desempeño y los resultados que logra la organización.

The case of Mexico: Low salaries and productivity

Voy a plantear un poco el caso de México y perdón, pero, claro, es mi lugar de origen y por lo tanto tengo datos que me parecen también relevantes tomar en cuenta para esta discusión.

Distribution of the working age population

Más allá de lo que hablamos con respecto a las empresas privadas y empresas en el Estado, la realidad es que tenemos un problema serio de desempleo. En este caso, tenemos 98,4 millones de personas en edad de trabajar; 58,6 millones de personas económicamente activas; y, muchos subempleados; es decir, con empleos que no ofrecen las condiciones naturales para poder desempeñarse adecuadamente.

El problema del subempleo es un problema serio porque todos estos trabajos, la economía informal, como todos ustedes saben, es tremendamente improductiva.

Labor informality 55,6% as of November 2021

El 55,6% de las personas en el año 2021 trabajaba en la economía informal y no están incentivados. El tema es cómo incentivarlos para entrar a la formalidad; cómo creamos conciencia de que trabajando en una empresa tendrían muchas más oportunidades. Esto me parece que es algo regional; importante tener en cuenta al hablar de cómo incentivar la productividad. Mientras tengamos tanta gente en la informalidad va a ser difícil porque el otro aspecto es que los trabajos informales están relacionados con actividades económicas que agregan muy poco valor. La mayor parte de ellos están en la elaboración de comida; el uso de la tecnología ahí es relativamente menor y no a esos niveles desde luego. Por lo tanto, es fundamental hacer algo para reducir la tasa de informalidad y que haya más empleo formal.

Average monthly income by industry

Por otro lado, está el salario en sí mismo. Esta es una tabla que muestra cuántos puestos hay en diferentes industrias; tomé algunas al azar, cuál es el suelo mensual en dólares y el sueldo diario. Lo primero que salta es la gran diferencia; es decir, cinco veces más trabajar en una industria de telecomunicaciones que en preparación de alimentos.

Lo segundo que salta es que la mayor parte de la gente se ubica en los grupos que están en la mitad de la tabla: en la manufactura, en la construcción y en el comercio en general, en donde también hay una tremenda informalidad. Entonces, con esta distribución del salario tan distinta, es complicado hablar de manera general de productividad. Naturalmente esto tiene una relación con lo que acaba de mencionar el señor Larry Quinlan; estas industrias de telecomunicación y de procesamiento de información claramente son más productivas que otras industrias y tienen la posibilidad de pagar mejor porque además la gente está mejor educada.

Working poverty as a percentage of the national population

Y eso nos lleva al otro punto que es la pobreza laboral; es decir, cuánta gente trabaja y gana menos de lo que se necesita para abastecerse de la comida necesaria para cuatro personas. Esta es la forma en que se ha manejado la pobreza laboral en el país a lo largo de los años.

Working poverty. Not even enough for…

Esto es un tema fundamental. La canasta básica tiene un valor de $57,6 pesos, que son USD$2.88, y son estas raciones de comida las que se tienen. Si los salarios no alcanzan para cuando menos eliminar esta pobreza laboral, es difícil hablar de las cosas consecuentes como de las que se han hablado aquí, de las que soy plenamente testigo porque además trabajo para muchísimas compañías de todo el mundo de orden mundial. Es un tema que parece relevante tener en cuenta en esta conversación.

Considerations

Entonces, es cierto que hay que incentivar el trabajo, pero hay que resolver ciertos temas. El empleo formal, donde hay más del 50% de gente en la informalidad, implementar esto resulta prácticamente imposible y la desconexión entre los niveles salariales actuales y la productividad en cómo integramos los distintos aspectos de la compensación para el hogar.

How variable pay impact productivity, an example

Measuring Economic profit of people instead of capital

Por último, quisiera mostrar un ejemplo muy sencillo de cómo la compensación variable afecta a la productividad en un esquema en el que uno puede decir: bueno, sí la utilidad económica tiene la fórmula del retorno de la inversión menos el costo de capital por el capital invertido, pues la fórmula para personas es la productividad por empleado menos el costo por empleado por las personas empleadas; de manera que en el ejemplo que está aquí abajo, si nosotros subimos la productividad y bajamos el costo por empleado, y mantenemos el número de empleados, en un hipotético dato como el que está aquí, pues, hay unas diferencias muy importantes en las diferencias en productividad.

Otro tema que es importante mencionar es que la información que se tiene disponible para poder hacer muchos más análisis de productividad en las empresas y que es transparente, yo diría, para que se pueda analizar con mayor detalle, no es tan vasta como en otros lugares. Esto no nos permite identificar costos específicos que nos ayudaran a identificar oportunidades en esto.

Example: FMCG (bottling) company with regional presence

Si ustedes ven este ejemplo que es un dato real de una empresa embotelladora con presencia regional, en estos últimos tres años, a pesar de la pandemia, esta empresa tiene esas ventas que se ven ahí. Bajó claramente en el año 2019 por la pandemia, pero después se recuperó en el año 2020, y todo el ejercicio, es decir, la utilidad y la productividad por empleado fueron mejorando a raíz de tomar la decisión dura que fue, justamente, la reducción del empleo. Entonces, el número de empleados ha venido decreciendo y la productividad ha sido mayor que la del año 2018, considerando lo que pasó en el año 2020.

De manera que, como un ejemplo muy simple, hay muchísimas otras maneras de analizar esto; depende de los datos, pero pues eso es lo que yo quería comentar.

Muchas gracias por la oportunidad y espero haber contribuido en esta conversación.

El PRESIDENTE: You certainly did, and thank you very much, Mr. Pérez, for your important observations on the productivity issue, and you have provided us much information on which to reflect. I thank you a great deal.

Intervenciones de las delegaciones de los Estados Miembros

El PRESIDENTE: I will now open the floor to delegates.

Ambassador Lynch of Barbados, you have the floor.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE BARBADOS: Chair, good morning to you and to our panelists.

Let me begin by commending you, Chair, for your persistence in dealing with issues that are non-traditional in the sense of what, at least in my experience, the Permanent Council has dealt with thus far.

What has been presented this morning continues to be of supreme importance to us in terms of the social and economic development of most of the countries in this Hemisphere.

My concern continues to be whether or not most of these presentations are best placed in this forum, or whether or not it would be better to invite, through this body, the real decision-makers in government and governance who deal with some of these issues before us. I believe, at the end of the day, that people like us can only transmit the message. I know that these fora are sometimes seen far and wide but, ultimately, someone who serves as an envoy for his or her country overseas in a multilateral setting like this finds it very difficult not only to be able to absorb all of the elements of the message but indeed to be able to act, to be able to change the direction in which we are headed.

Something was said earlier by one of our presenters, Mr. Pérez, that I think is important. He said that the majority of our people hold jobs in low-connectivity sectors, and that the jobs that are created and continue to be created in our environment are jobs in which low productivity and low wages continue to be part and parcel of how we deal with them.

Part of the problems and the challenges we face is that we are involved in these sectors for a number of reasons. One is that they are easy sectors for us to enter. If you are talking about small, open economies with limited resources and limited access to capital and technology, you are talking about areas towards which we naturally converge, that is, where our resources naturally lead us over time, and where our sociocultural and historical leanings naturally take us. Therefore, that is why we cannot readily speak about high tech or about areas of innovation because we have never had access to the capital base that we need in order to make the transition to what we are talking about, and we do not have the technology readily available to us.

If these meetings of ours are going to be meaningful and have any real impact upon how we move from our present situation, these sessions not only must be heard by our political leaders, but what also must happen is that our access to capital and technology has got to change. Therefore, if we are to make these transitions, we must have access to better areas of our development in a way that allows us to get our hands on these particular variables and inputs to our development.

In closing, ever since I was growing up as a young boy in Barbados, I have heard about the issue of economic diversification and moving out of tourism, transitioning from tourism and looking for other aspects of development that can lead us to something else. It sometimes sounds like pie-in-the-sky dreaming, because when we ask “What do we transition out of tourism into? Hospitality and the like?” How do we transition out of these low-wage service jobs into these high-tech jobs that Mr. Quinlan talked about, taking advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution? We ask ourselves this: where is the base? How do we build the base? There is a lot of potential in being a part of a conglomerate, so the Caribbean, and I say this to the Organization of American States (OAS) in terms of a multilateral study, there is a lot of potential in conglomerates, in being a part of something that more of us need to be involved in, to work together, because we are never singularly going to get our hands on the resources that are necessary to make that deep transition.

And I sat this respectfully. I if our partners and those that are around us in this hemisphere do not see the value of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like us to the overall existence of what happens within this Hemisphere, we are going to be subjected forever to the lanes of poverty.

International financial institutions, the larger countries in this hemisphere, and in essence some private sector partners must see the value and worth of our small developing countries to their own existence. If you look at what is happening in Europe, nowadays there is a huge conflict. If you go back in the history of the conflict, people realize that they are dependent on each other for their own survival. And, therefore, I say this: the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must be our partners, particularly the larger ones in our hemisphere, have got to be more open in the assistance that they give to us. If you continue to restrict us every time you open your doors, we are constrained by the fact that we cannot trade, there is some barrier put in place, correspondent banking opportunities are closed, well then, Chair, we are going about it the wrong way.

I say this respectfully: These discussions are more than meaningful if we are to move into another direction. For that transition to take place, our access to capital, assets, and technology has certainly got to change, and those partners with whom we have dealt for so long have got to be more open to our needs and to our direction.

Thank you very much.

El PRESIDENTE: You are most welcome, Sir.

Next, we have the Ambassador of Guyana. You have the floor, Sir.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE GUYANA: Thank you very much, Chairman Hull, and colleagues.

I would say, first of all, that my response is my own individual response and not the response of the delegation and Government of Guyana.

First, let me commend the persons who presented, starting with the Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis. I found them all very impressive and very provocative. I wonder, though, whether in these discussions we are not avoiding some significant constraints. For example, reference has been made quite often to Singapore. And if we look at the history of Singapore, we were running parallel in terms of GDP and other measures in the 1960s. But our paths were quite different from then on, and we chose those paths, our people chose those paths, or you might say those paths that Singapore followed were not open to us, including their geographic position, which was important. But I tend to see Singapore’s development more as a readiness to join with the European white world of the time, whilst we were not prepared to join with them or to have them join with us. So, I would say that has been a significant determinant of the differences in the paths that we have followed.

I think that we also have to look at the issue of the limitation of size. I think scale matters. I think I saw a line somewhere that scale did not matter, but I think size and scale matter quite a lot, and in different ways. Certainly, in a large economy, in a large place like the United States, things develop all the time, various technologies rise, and various places have different advantages, and people move. So, when the auto industry goes down in Detroit or Chicago, for example, people can move to California or wherever development is taking place.

There was this kind of discussion when people talked of our countries being plantation economies at the beginning, I think, because of our size, to get to some benefits of scale, productivity is related to scale, we end up being a one-culture kind of thing, with a few main economic products. But when things change, we go to zero. And I think that is related to our size. And we can see that in the large countries, people there can move from one place to another place.

We read quite often that there is an urbanization trend in the world at large, and more and more people are living in big cities. And I would say what has happened to us in the Caribbean is that New York, Montreal, Miami, and Washington, to some extent, these are our big cities. It is natural for people to move to them.

To a large degree, our small economies offer more readily a kind of general work. If you are a doctor, you are a general doctor, a general lawyer, rather than a highly specialized doctor or lawyer or engineer. And most of us, if we have some children coming up, that they look that they could be very good, we want them to come up to America and be at the Johns Hopkins University and so on. I say this aware that, of the hundred boys who joined Queen’s College in Guyana with me in 1955, only about fifteen of us spent most of our lives in Guyana.

I must protest the frequent reference that those people who have been left in the countries or choose to stay in the countries are, to some extent, “residual.” I chose to stay in Guyana until six months ago, so I naturally am a little bit objective.

It is a question of what fits. I remember particularly when I first was interviewed for a scholarship, the guy said: “Our problem is not that you do not have good enough grades. Our problem is your grades are too good. Why do you want to work in this mud of the bauxite mines, and not go into computers and rockets and the like?” And that was in 1963. So, when we talk about people moving out, our younger, brighter people moving out, we must bear those things in mind, or we will find ourselves being in contradictory positions, maybe within an hour we move from one position to another that is contradictory.

My inclination is to think that the situation that we see has evolved is often not that bad, and there may be lots of things controlling it, limiting it, that we are not aware of, or sometimes that we just do not want to accept. And I wonder about these things.

Let me talk now about the question of incentivization. I am a little wary of incentivization, maybe because of being more of a socialist orientation. I am wary of approaches to incentivization, and I would say further that, particularly for a small society and small groups, incentivization often goes down different paths than in a large and anonymous group, made up by the 10,000 people in an incentivization scheme rather than having 200 or so in public service in Guyana, for example. It takes different routes, and other people have questioned the approach that Mr. Drucker took.

On the issue of productivity, I would like to refer to a book by Ishikawa, a Japanese book from the 1980s. Productivity has much more relation to social, cultural and political aspects. And even Peter Drucker said one time about the gangs in California: “You know they are very well motivated, and I presume they are very productive in their situation.” So, maybe my emphasis is on the social and political, first of all, and not on the technological and other aspects.

Thank you very much.

El PRESIDENTE: You are very welcome, Sir.

Next, we have the Ambassador for Chile.

You have the floor, Sir.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE CHILE: Muchas gracias, Presidente.

Señor Presidente, resulta muy relevante para Chile la convocatoria de esta sesión extraordinaria del Consejo Permanente referida al fomento del esfuerzo laboral. Por eso, agradecemos especialmente las presentaciones del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Aviación de Saint Kitts y Nevis, Mark Brantley; del ex Director de Información Global de Deloitte (LLP), Larry Quinlan; y, del Socio Senior para Clientes, Korn-Ferry Consulting México, Enrique Pérez Sámano.

El trabajo decente, concepto promovido desde la Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT) por el exdirector chileno Juan Somavia, impacta múltiples ámbitos de la sociedad y mejora la calidad de vida de las personas y como tal ha sido reconocido como uno de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de mayor influencia. En concordancia con este objetivo, debemos propiciar el pleno derecho a la libertad sindical y fortalecer los sistemas de seguridad social en materia de pensiones, salud, cesantía, seguridad en el trabajo y otros, así como el aseguramiento de salarios dignos y la creación de puestos de trabajo productivos tanto para el desarrollo individual como para el beneficio común de nuestros países.

El trabajo decente debe ser una herramienta que permita a las trabajadoras, a los trabajadores y a sus familias salir de la pobreza. Para ello, es fundamental generar las condiciones que permitan crear puestos de trabajo de alta productividad y bajo impacto ambiental. Resulta fundamental la adopción de medidas de reconversión y capacitación para adaptarnos a la incorporación de la inteligencia artificial, la automatización y la robotización del mundo laboral, que además signifiquen un mejoramiento en la calidad de vida de los trabajadores y trabajadoras.

El trabajo decente es un compromiso indispensable para el cumplimiento de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, pero además permite alcanzar o avanzar hacia otros objetivos como el fin de la pobreza, el compromiso del hambre cero, mejoras en la salud y el bienestar, una educación de calidad y la igualdad de género. Además, es indispensable para el desarrollo de la industria la innovación y la infraestructura, disminuir la desigualdad de ingresos y la desigual multifactorial. Se incorpora el compromiso de producción y consumo responsables, mejora de los niveles de paz, ciudadanía y justicia, y es parte integral de un pacto social que nos incluya a todas y todos.

Resulta clave entonces otorgar importancia estratégica al trabajo como uno de los elementos consustanciales a la dignidad humana, como medio de subsistencia material de las grandes mayorías, como mecanismo de inclusión y valoración social del ser humano y como un competente productivo cada vez más relevante, especialmente en la era de las tecnologías de la información, la sociedad del conocimiento y la globalización. Al respecto, queremos reforzar aspectos propios de los derechos humanos reduciendo las brechas de género y resguardando la integridad física y psíquica de los trabajadores y trabajadoras, entre otros aspectos fundamentales.

El mundo del trabajo debe impulsar procesos amplios de diálogo social que incluya a trabajadores, empleadores, Estado y a la sociedad civil en su conjunto. Se deben fortalecer las políticas tendientes a la igualdad en las labores de cuidado terminando con la arbitrariedad en las condiciones laborales y remuneraciones hacia cualquier grupo social tales como mujeres, migrantes, jóvenes, personas mayores o pueblos originarios. Se debe también resguardar los derechos de los trabajadores en el trabajo, una modalidad que llegó para quedarse.

Es muy importante que podamos garantizar espacios de trabajo seguros para las mujeres identificando los fenómenos de acoso sexual o acoso por razón de género, siendo ambas violencias de género en el trabajo. También se deben adoptar medidas para garantizar la aplicación a todos los trabajadores y trabajadoras, la igualdad de remuneraciones por un trabajo de igual valor.

Como hemos visto, señor Presidente, en la región debemos abordar muchísimos desafíos laborales cuya urgencia es apremiante debido al escenario impuesto por la pandemia del COVID-19. Por ello, Chile reitera su profundo agradecimiento por la convocatoria a esta sesión extraordinaria del Consejo Permanente.

Muchas gracias, señor Presidente.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much.

We next have the Representative of Panama. You have the floor.

La REPRESENTANTE ALTERNA DE PANAMÁ: Muchas gracias, señor Presidente.

Primeramente, deseo agradecer esta convocatoria, así como las interesantes y completas presentaciones realizadas por el señor Canciller Mark Brantley y los señores Larry Quinlan y Enrique Pérez Sámano.

La crisis producto de la pandemia del COVID-19 ha tenido grandes impactos en todos los ámbitos, incluyendo el laboral, donde si bien ha habido avances positivos como la optimización de procesos mediante herramientas tecnológicas, la regularización e implementación del teletrabajo y la digitalización de empresas, también se han profundizado los desafíos previos y creado nuevos, producto de las restricciones e impacto de la pandemia en nuestras economías.

En el caso de Panamá, el Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral (MITRADEL) ha estado dirigiendo los esfuerzos intersectoriales para brindar respuesta a las necesidades y retos del mercado laboral durante este complicado período. Esto desde un enfoque integral y multidimensional tomando en consideración los impactos en el comportamiento de la productividad laboral en Panamá. De la misma manera, ha procurado mediante iniciativas, programas y proyectos fomentar la empleabilidad tomando en cuenta las nuevas condiciones en que vivimos, las nuevas tecnologías, el fomento a los emprendimientos y pequeñas empresas. En este sentido, la Delegación de Panamá desea compartir brevemente algunas de estas iniciativas:

1. La política pública de empleabilidad e inserción laboral de las jóvenes y mujeres en condiciones de vulnerabilidad socioeconómica en Panamá. Ésta busca incrementar las oportunidades de empleo para las mujeres; en particular, aquellas que se encuentran en condiciones de vulnerabilidad. Se enfoca en garantizar la igualdad entre hombres y mujeres en términos de inclusión e inserción laboral y responde al reto de acelerar las oportunidades a las que acceden las mujeres asegurando que no se queden atrás de la recuperación y del desarrollo económico y prosperidad que están por venir.

2. Programa de Apoyo a la Inserción Laboral (PAIL). Este programa de becas, a través del MITRADEL y la empresa privada, lo que busca es brindar oportunidad de adquirir conocimientos, habilidades y destrezas a través de la realización de actividades teóricas y prácticas dentro de la empresa. Cada parte aporta el 50% de la beca, las cuales son por el monto equivalente al salario mínimo, y en los casos que el becario presente alguna condición de discapacidad, el programa cubre la beca completa.

3. En julio del año 2021, se inauguró la ventanilla única de oportunidades que cuenta con funcionarios de diversas entidades para orientar a los usuarios en la generación de recursos económicos y para alinear las competencias de las personas trabajadoras a las necesidades del mercado laboral.

4. La bolsa de empleo. Esta es una plataforma tecnológica para gestionar la exploración de oportunidades laborales, avalada por el Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral, convirtiéndose en la bolsa electrónica de empleos oficial de Panamá. Es una herramienta gratuita que permite dar seguimiento en tiempo real a los candidatos y candidatas y a las vacantes de las empresas registradas.

5. La promulgación de la ley 186 del 2 de diciembre del año 2020, mediante la cual se crean las sociedades de emprendimiento, un nuevo tipo de personería jurídica para facilitar la formalización de las empresas por medio de un sistema simplificado de registro y el otorgamiento de incentivos fiscales a los emprendedores. La operatividad de este innovador modelo para coadyuvar a la reactivación económica postpandemia contribuye a la formalización del emprendimiento en Panamá.

Mediante la implementación de estas iniciativas, junto a las demás políticas intersectoriales y el apoyo y acompañamiento de la empresa privada y organismos internacionales y multilaterales, Panamá renueva su compromiso a continuar trabajando para enfrentar los desafíos actuales en beneficio de nuestros ciudadanos y nuestras ciudadanas.

Muchas gracias, señor Presidente.

El PRESIDENTE: We next have the Alternate Representative of Peru. You have the floor.

La REPRESENTANTE ALTERNA DEL PERÚ: Buenos días, señor Presidente, señor Secretario General Adjunto, señores representantes, embajadores, colegas.

Quería empezar por agradecer esta importante iniciativa de la Presidencia de traer un tema que realmente es de prioritaria atención a nuestra agenda de trabajo. Quería agradecer también a los expositores; realmente ha sido bastante ilustrativa toda la información que hemos podido recibir; ha sido realmente importante abordar este tema, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que nuestra región, América Latina y el Caribe, realmente en términos de productividad está por debajo de la media mundial, lo que es realmente preocupante.

En el caso específico del Perú, me permito destacar tres temas que son importantes que se aborden en este marco. Uno por ejemplo, que fue mencionado por uno de los expositores, el tema fundamental de la educación, específicamente la valorización de la educación técnica que es algo que realmente nuestros países tienen que aprender a hacer; tienen que aprender a manejar de una manera estratégica.

Otro tema neurálgico para el Perú es el tema de la brecha de género; se tiene que trabajar por superar la brecha de género y esto tiene que partir vinculándolo con el tema anterior del tema educativo, de un trabajo en el sistema educativo.

Y un punto también que es de central importancia es la incorporación de estándares en materia de medio ambiente; tenemos que atender el tema del cambio climático y realmente eso tiene que ser muy tangible y verse de manera muy concreta dentro del ámbito laboral y de la productividad.

Muchas gracias por concederme la palabra.

El PRESIDENTE: You are very welcome.

We now have the Ambassador of Ecuador. You have the floor, Sir.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DEL ECUADOR: Muchas gracias, señor Presidente.

La Delegación del Ecuador quiere, en primer lugar, saludar al honorable señor Mark Brantley, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Aviación de Saint Kitts y Nevis, y agradecer su valiosa exposición, así como aquellas muy ilustrativas pronunciadas por los señores Larry Quinlan y Enrique Pérez Sámano.

El tema el cual nos convoca es muy importante y por lo cual agradezco la convocatoria a esta sesión extraordinaria del Consejo Permanente y que en poco ha tipificado su Presidencia. Como lo decía el Embajador Noel Lynch de Barbados, permite avanzar en una discusión en el debate y en la definición de lo que deben ser las políticas públicas y las prioridades dirigidas a elevar el rendimiento cualitativo de los trabajadores con la visión siempre en el objetivo final: erradicar la pobreza, eliminar la desigualdad en el Hemisferio y aprovechar las experiencias adquiridas para mejorar los sistemas laborales de nuestras naciones aquejadas por el alto nivel de subempleo e informalidad, como nos decía el señor Pérez, y que la crisis sanitaria no exacerbe en las circunstancias actuales. La recuperación del mercado laboral resulta imperativa, así como también el fomento del ejercicio efectivo de los derechos de los trabajadores, en especial de las mujeres.

Recordemos simplemente que el confinamiento, producto del COVID-19, restringió considerablemente la participación de las mujeres en las actividades productivas, a lo que se sumó en mayor peso de labores no remuneradas vinculadas al cuidado del hogar. Según la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), entre el año 2019 y el año 2020, cerca de 13 millones de personas que perdieron su empleo fueron mujeres. Se trata de, entonces, generar nuevos empleos —como decimos en mi país— dignos, a los que se debe añadir el fortalecimiento prioritario de las micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas (MIPYME), y digo micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas porque estas representan prácticamente el 97% del tejido empresarial de nuestros países y sobre lo cual sí me gustaría tener los comentarios de los panelistas sobre cómo precisamente ajustar, adecuar ese tejido empresarial, esas MIPYMES con lo que ellos bien advertían sobre elevación del rendimiento cualitativo de los trabajadores. Entonces, se traten de incorporar a esas MIPYMES para lograr un mayor número de trabajadores, propiciar la recuperación económica y productiva que va de la mano con la protección de sus derechos humanos, en particular de la salud, con el objeto de ofrecer respuestas a los desafíos del presente.

Al haber ejecutado un exitoso plan de vacunación, y haberlo concebido como el principal problema económico, el Gobierno del Presidente Guillermo Lasso ha impulsado la reactivación productiva a través de la adopción de medidas de prevención para el retorno progresivo y seguro a las actividades presenciales de trabajo. Para reducir el riesgo de contagio entre los servidores públicos, trabajadores, emprendedores, clientes, usuarios, y ciudadanía en general, se han emitido guías etarias las cuales se adaptan a las circunstancias y comportamiento de la curva de contaminación. Fruto de estas acciones coordinadas ha permitido crear ciento cincuenta mil empleos adecuados e incorporar a setenta y seis mil nuevos afiliados a la seguridad social.

A su vez, el proyecto de ley de inversión por el empleo plantea reformas a la legislación sobre alianzas público-privadas, en mercado de valores, zonas francas e incentivos para sectores estratégicos, a fin de atraer el objetivo de los treinta mil millones de dólares en inversiones estratégicas, como lo han advertido precisamente los panelistas para cumplir con la meta; en el caso del Ecuador, establecer 2 millones de empleos en los cuatro años de gobierno para los siete de los diez ecuatorianos que hoy no lo tienen. De ahí también, el envío breve de un proyecto de reforma laboral, que entre otros aspectos, atenderá las necesidades de capacitación profesional fomentando la educación técnica para adiestrar a los trabajadores en esas nuevas técnicas e industrias de la quinta revolución industrial, como nos advertía el señor Quinlan.

Concluyo argumentando que se debe privilegiar el uso de incentivos digitales que se incrementaron exponencialmente en razón de los beneficios registrados durante la pandemia y que han generado nuevas modalidades de trabajo fundadas en su utilización. Claro que hay que recordar que nuestra región está apenas conectando en un 38% y eso debe ser un esfuerzo de todos nuestros gobiernos.

Y finalmente, quiero decir que esta situación ha ciertamente producido un giro significativo en las relaciones laborales tradicionales que demanda un nuevo marco normativo con mayor capacidad de adaptación a estas nuevas realidades, tan bien descritas por los panelistas, sin mermar, por cierto, los derechos adquiridos de los trabajadores.

Muchas gracias, señor presidente.

El PRESIDENTE: You are very welcome, Sir.

We would very much like to afford the speakers the opportunity to offer their response.

Mr. Pérez, you have the floor, Sir.

El SOCIO SENIOR PARA CLIENTES, KORN-FERRY CONSULTING, MÉXICO: Thank you.

Solo contestando al comentario reciente en relación con las micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas (MIPYMES), hemos estudiado el tema de manera importante en el país; yo le he dado algunos datos hace un tiempo al doctor Everson Hull, cuando decía que en México hay, me parece, que 4 millones y medio de empresas registradas, y el 95% de ellas tiene menos de diez empleados.

Hay un estudio del doctor Levy, seguramente conocen a Santiago Levy, en un libro que dice “Esfuerzos mal recompensados: La elusiva búsqueda de la prosperidad en México”, en el que demuestra que el esfuerzo por generar empresas no es rentable en la medida en que esas empresas desaparecen a los dos años; es decir, si ya se hizo un trabajo de fomentar a los emprendedores, que en diferentes países lo hacen de diferentes maneras, pues ahora lo que hay que hacer es que esas microempresas se conviertan en empresas; institucionalizarlas en lugar de que desaparezcan a los dos años y eso requiere de conocimiento y de capital, pero podría haber un proceso más como de incubación de negocios que los convirtiera realmente en empresas que permita proveer salario y trabajo digno, cumplir con las obligaciones fiscales y mantener a las empresas. De lo contrario, no tiene mucho sentido estar creando empresas que desaparecen a los dos años.

Me parece que ahí hay un área de oportunidad.

Eso es lo que quería mencionar.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much.

Your Excellency the Honorable Mark Brantley, you have the floor, Sir.

El MINISTRO DE RELACIONES EXTERIORES Y AVIACIÓN DE SAINT KITTS Y NEVIS: I just want to offer a very brief reflection. I believe that the conversation has been incredibly rich, and, to me, there is a common thread: that this is a problem, and so I commend you yet again for putting this so firmly on the agenda.

I refer especially to the distinguished representative of Barbados, who drew our attention to the history of our region and the fact that perhaps we do find ourselves trapped in this low productivity environment as a consequence of that peculiar history. And I think there is some merit to that.

I marry that now to the presentation made by my dear friend, Mr. Quinlan, who clearly pointed out that technology, arguably, offers some solution to help us as a region, to move ourselves out of this low productivity trap in which we find ourselves.

I believe that technology is the great equalizer, the great leveler, in this world. Many of our countries in the region, and Saint Kitts and Nevis in particular, have a very high penetration rate for cellphones and other devices. Everybody here is connected in some way, shape, or form, and in a very real way. We can use technology and leverage technology to close that gap of low productivity.

Our history is peculiar indeed. I believe it was the distinguished Representative of Guyana who made a reference to the different paths that Singapore and the region have taken, and I agree with that. But I do not think it is too late for us to use what is available to us, the tools that are currently available, to see how we can close that gap and how we can boost productivity.

I believe that the numbers that have been shared with us by our distinguished panelists demonstrate that, if we are able to move the needle in the right direction, we can unleash tremendous potential here in our region to become more competitive, to become more productive, and certainly to move the standard of living of our people and of our region to ever increasing and ever higher levels.

I think this conversation has been very rich. It will be my hope, from a policy level, that this conversation continues. Ambassador Everson Hull: I know that your Chairmanship is short. I am hopeful that your leading role here has put this firmly on the agenda of the Organization of American States even though, as I think one of your distinguished speakers would have pointed out, this approach may not be traditional in the Organization of American States.

I think the OAS is concerned about enhancing lives across the region and across member states, and I believe this is a worthwhile pursuit. I have been honored to have been invited and to have participated in this exchange this morning. I have learned a lot and I am going to certainly take away and have a discussion with my colleagues in Cabinet what I see as something that we have to overcome as a country and as a region if we are to succeed and if we are to do and become the type of society and the type of country that I believe we all want.

Again, thank you very much; those would be my final words for today. I want to thank you for the honor of being here and for participating in this very important special sitting.

Thank you, excellency.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much.

I would like to say that I too am very appreciative of the comments that were offered by the delegates and, certainly, in respect to the presentations, I thought they were very much on the mark. Some of them were somewhat controversial, some would indeed require an extra effort on our part, but I am very supportive of the inclination and willingness to continue to push this issue, because it is so very important. We certainly cannot allow this situation to go from cradle to grave in which our per capita income is stuck at a US$16,000 level. That is not something that I think that we should be comfortable with. Ignoring the issue is not the solution.

I think Ambassador Lynch made a good point, which he had made before, with respect to the importance of trying to reach out to the higher levels of government. That is very important. It does not mean, however, that the sessions that have been recorded today and last week could not be circulated to the members of the Cabinets of our Governments. Those recordings in full detail are available on Facebook and they can be made available to you, to anyone who would like to receive them.

Again, thank you all very much. If there are no other delegations wishing to make interventions, and having heard the very informative presentations and comments on the issue, I wish to propose that the Permanent Council take note of the presentations made by the special invited guests as well as those of the delegations.

Dear colleagues, we have concluded consideration of the agenda for today. Before closing the meeting, let me reiterate my appreciation to His Excellency the Honorable Mark Brantley; Dr. Larry Quinlan, and Mr. Enrique Pérez for their very enlightening presentations. I thank you.

This meeting, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, is now adjourned.

Thank you.

[Se levanta la sesión a las 11:44 a.m.]

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