Join the UCLA Anderson Center for Global Management (CGM) and Professor Sebastian Edwards, Henry Ford II Chair in International Management in hosting Juan Gabriel Valdés, Ambassador of Chile to the United States for a discussion on Chile's important strategic relationship with the United States and Asia under the current conjuncture.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
UCLA Anderson School of Management
110 Westwood Plaza Executive Dining Room
Gold Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Latin America is a commodity-driven and commodity-exporting region. Today, only a declining percentage of the region’s exports are “complex” (i.e., knowledge intensive) products. With the rise in commodities prices brought on by China’s industrialization, a golden decade was unleashed for Latin America. The United States already has a booming exchange with Latin America. Chile represents expansion opportunities for U.S. businesses and more businesses should be encouraged to “look South” to explore Latin America’s markets and learn about emerging opportunities in the region. Chile has the highest GDP per capita in Latin America however like many countries in the region, it has struggled with a slow-down in the international commodity markets, in particular copper, where Chie is the world’s largest producer. While Brazil is facing an expected adjustment, Chile, Colombia and Peru are still growing, with Mexico and Central America forecast to perform better than average. Latin America’s growth, formerly characterized by demand for its natural resources, is now also driven by the rise of other, non-commoditized industries such as infrastructure, agribusiness and retail and consumer products. Latin America also has large modern companies, some of which have evolved into successful multinationals that are expanding into other markets to become global players. Chile, like many countries, is seeking to develop and expand its economy with a focus on Asia and in particular China with whom it has a strong trading relationship.
Speaker's Biography
Juan Gabriel Valdés, Ambassador of Chile to the United States
Juan Gabriel Valdés was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chile, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations; Ambassador of Chile to Spain and Argentina. He also served as Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations and Chief of the United Nations Mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH. Mr. Valdés holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies at the University of Essex, England, and a PhD in Political Science from Princeton University, and has been a research fellow at Princeton University and at Notre Dame Kellogg Institute of International Relations. He has also taught Latin American International Relations at the University of La Sorbonne in Paris, France. In 2008, he organized under the auspices of the Presidency of Chile a Public Foundation dedicated to the promotion of Chile in the world, “Imagen de Chile”. Since 2010 he has been a consultant for the Economic Commission for Latin America, (CEPAL) of the United Nations and of CAF, Development Bank for Latin America. Mr. Valdés is a member of the board of the Global Leadership Foundation and of the Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR) at Columbia University. He was born in Santiago, Chile in June 1947. He is married to Antonia Echenique Celis and has four children and six grandchildren.
Bag lunch will be provided.
RSVP is required.
Cost : Open to UCLA students, faculty, staff, alumni & by invitation only. Bruin IDs required.
Carla Guerrero
310-825-4571
guerrero@international.ucla.edu Download file: Speaker-Series-l1-jit.pdf
Sponsor(s): Latin American Institute, Program on Southern Cone Studies, Anderson Center for Global Management, Center for Southern Cone Studies, Anderson Center for Global Management, Latin American Business Association