Today more than 35 delegations from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions that are part of ECLAC closed the forty-first session of the United Nations regional organization by approving a compendium of resolutions in which they adopt the Commission’s proposals for a comprehensive approach to development, included in the position document Managing Transformations in an Era of Ruptures, presented during the meeting, which was held from 7 through 9 October in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

The publication, presented by Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, analyzes the “game-changing” shift in external condition for development in order to understand, anticipate, and successfully navigate the new global context. It also furthers thought on possible paths to addressing development challenges—the “hows”—centered on the paradigm of transformation management.

ECLAC’s most important biennial meeting, which included the participation of 35 member States and one associate member, with a total of more than 1,100 attendees, ended this Friday, 9 October with the final panel on macroeconomics for development and sound and strong taxation; delivery of the report on the activities of ECLAC subsidiary bodies and the outcomes of other intergovernmental meetings organized by the Commission since its fortieth session (in 2024); and the presentation of the report on the ECLAC system’s activities in 2025 and the draft programme of work of the ECLAC system for 2028. The closing ceremony was led by Víctor Orlando Bisonó, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, and José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

In his closing speech, the Executive Secretary of ECLAC highlighted the fact that, for the first time, the session included the presentation of two documents aimed at better understanding the world and our region in this new era of ruptures, as well as its effects and regional and national opportunities.

“I want to express my deepest appreciation to President Luis Abinader, to Vice President Raquel Peña, and to Minister Víctor Bisonó for their commitment, their unwavering willingness, and especially for the hospitality with which they have received us. I am fully confident that under the Dominican Republic’s leadership, we will drive management of transformations in the region during the next two years,” the Secretary stated.

“After listening attentively to the speeches, ministerial discussions, panelists’ contributions, and deliberations of member States, I am left with an even stronger conviction: there is broad consensus on the magnitude of the challenges we face, but also on the assets we have and the need for coordinated action with greater ambition, pragmatism, and strategic sense,” he said.

He emphasized five main messages in his speech:

1. The region cannot simply react: it must anticipate changes and actively participate in configuring the new international order.
2. The region’s assets—natural resources, biodiversity, productive capacities and knowledge, markets, and human capital—will only be translated into development if there are clear strategies, solid institutions, and effective governance to mobilize them.
3. A new phase of regional integration is desirable and necessary. And it must include issues like infrastructure, facilitation of trade, services trade, financing, and climate action.
4. For countries without coasts and small landlocked states, integration is necessary to overcome limitations of scale, and its success must be measured by its impact on people’s lives.
5. The challenge now is to turn recommendations into action so that these reports are not just another document. That requires appropriation on the part of governments, courage, and political will.

“None of this is easy, but all of it is possible. As we said in the inauguration (of the session): it is not about growing for the sake of growth, it is about growing to transform, and it is about transforming to create a better future,” the high-level authority of the United Nations remarked.

Meanwhile, Minister Bisonó emphasized that the true value of this meeting begins now, in our capacity to move forward with the ideas we have shared and turn them into public policy, cooperation projects, and alliances that produce real, tangible results.

"In the Dominican Republic, we take on the role of chair of ECLAC with that vision, with complete willingness to work together with all of you. May what we have built in Santiago de los Caballeros allow us to progress toward a region with more cooperation, more opportunities, and a greater capacity to transform decisions into the development of what is most important: our people,” he stated.

The resolutions adopted by participating countries also took note of the document Ruptures and opportunities: proposals for Latin America and the Caribbean to thrive in the new geopolitical era, prepared by the ECLAC Commission on Geopolitics, Globalization, and Development for Latin America and the Caribbean, which seeks to orient countries in the region to promote public policies that allow countries in the region to successfully navigate the new geopolitical context, characterized by eight significant global ruptures that are reconfiguring the region’s markets, value chains, and assets, such that they can anticipate the risks and opportunities this implies.

Finally, the delegates accepted the Government of Panama’s invitation to host the forty-second session of ECLAC to be held in 2028.

The forty-first session of ECLAC marked the beginning of the Dominican Republic’s period as chair of ECLAC, which will continue until then.