9.30-10.00 Welcome and registration of participants 

10.00-11.30 SESSION I

Why European investment is still so bouyant 

Despite the global slowdown and the eurozone’s sovereign debt woes, European investors are still being attracted in record numbers by Latin American economies’ booming performances. After the US, Europe is Latin America’s major trading partner. But competition for the choicest trade and investment opportunities in the region is also getting fiercer, with Asian businesses (Chinese especially) stepping up their presence in Latin America. What are implications for European investors of EU governments’ austerity policies?

11.30-12:00 Coffee break  

12:00-13.30 SESSION II

Latin America’s dynamic marketplace

The doldrum years that reflected Latin American countries’ failure to construct an effective internal market now seem firmly behind the region. The dynamic effects of Mercosur have seen cross-border trade between its member countries increase tenfold in less than two decades. Unlike the more saturated markets of industrialised Western nations, demand in Latin America is set to remain very strong. How should internationalised SMEs assess the opportunities available in the different countries of Latin America? Can EU-Latin American commercial partnerships and joint ventures facilitate technology transfer, innovation and sustainable economic development?

Sessions I & II co-moderated by Giles Merritt, Secretary General of Friends of Europe and Arnaldo Abruzzini, Secretary General of EUROCHAMBRES

13.30-14.30 Networking lunch  

14.30-16:00 SESSION III

Opportunities in tomorrow’s resource-scarce world 

Latin American countries’ natural resources are the envy of many and the investment successes of a comparative few. The key to developing these resources will be investors’ ability and willingness to add value to raw materials thereby ensuring economic diversification; at present half of Latin America’s exports are either primary goods or manufactures based on natural resources. Favoured projects will therefore be those that capitalize on Latin America’s natural wealth. What are the strategic production industries that European and Latin American internationalised SMEs with proven expertise should be identifying for their 21st century growth strategies?

Co-moderated by Debora Revoltella, Chief Economist and Director of the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Shada Islam, Head of Policy at Friends of Europe

16:00 End of summit