Havana, Cuba.- Facilitating development in Latin American and Caribbean countries is the focus of an agreement signed today by ECLAC, the OECD Development Center and the European Union (EU).

We signed an agreement of enormous importance to work in favor of the middle-income countries, which are the majority of the region and whose development has been complicated by the adjustment of the official aid, said Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in a video tweeted by that agency.

Referring to the instrument, signed within the framework of the 37th session of that organization that takes place in this capital until May 11, Barcena explained that it is all about generating a new concept of development in transition, of different developments where the conversation between donors and recipients is going to be changed to begin talking about cooperants in a broader sense.

The agreement also contemplates incorporating triangular cooperation and generating a ‘new toolbox for middle-income countries. We are going to elaborate a series of works and to organize forums where we can expand this pact for the countries in transition,’ she explained.

In her opinion, the most important thing is that it includes all the Latin American countries and, in the first place, all the Caribbean countries.

The mentioned agreement was signed by Barcena; by Stefano Manservisi, General Director of International Cooperation and Development of the European Commission, and by Mario Pezzini, Director of the Development Center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).