In a world where international politics has stopped being a backdrop and has become a central actor, the second roundtable organized by Insight-Lac set out to analyze how the new global order is affecting economic and trade strategies in Latin America.
The meeting took place on Monday, June 30, at La Rural and brought together representatives from the private sector, academia, and international organizations. In the main panel, Ana Basco, Esteban Actis, and Lautaro M. Ramirez, members of Insight-Lac, shared their views on an increasingly fragmented world, with growing geopolitical tensions and rules of the game being rewritten in real time.
Some of the main points of consensus that emerged from the debate:
- Geopolitics is no longer “background noise”: it now conditions the most strategic economic decisions. Major powers are prioritizing national security over efficiency, reshaping global value chains.
- International trade is fragmenting, but not contracting: routes are diversifying, new intermediaries are emerging, and unexpected winners are appearing. This creates an opportunity if the region knows how to read the new playing field.
- Latin America needs to stop being a spectator and take on a strategic role, betting on greater regional integration, common rules, new partners, and more sophisticated exports. Dependence on commodities is no longer viable in this new scenario.
- Industrial policy is no longer a taboo topic; even the IMF supports it in certain cases. Incorporating technology into goods and services is key to increasing competitiveness and resilience.
- Argentina’s challenges are structural, but not unique: regulatory barriers, high infrastructure costs, low investment, lack of predictability, and scarce financing are excluding many countries from new global opportunities.
The subsequent conversation with the guests reinforced a key idea: it is not only geopolitical maps that are changing, but also corporate logic. From AI to climate, the convergence between economic, regulatory, and political interests requires new capabilities to anticipate, adapt, and negotiate.
This was the second meeting in a series of roundtables organized by Insight-Lac to discuss, with evidence and a strategic perspective, the challenges of regional development in a changing world.
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