Rodrigo Paz at the CAF Forum in Panama: "Latin America must build its destiny with truth and trust"

"Latin America has to start once again to build its destiny with truth; a truth based on the culture of verifiable trust between countries, governments and societies," said Rodrigo Paz, president of Bolivia, at the opening of the International Economic Forum Latin America and the Caribbean 2026, organized by CAF in Panama on January 28-29.

Paz also questioned the ideological approaches that hinder productive development and pointed out that employment, education and economic integration must be at the center of the regional agenda. Along these lines, he highlighted Bolivia's opportunities in strategic sectors and the country's willingness to become a partner that facilitates the region's connection to global markets through its borders, infrastructure and logistical corridors.

The inaugural session of the Forum was led by Sergio Díaz-Granados, CAF's Executive President, together with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil; Rodrigo Paz, President of Bolivia; Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador; Bernardo Arévalo, President of Guatemala; Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia; Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica; and the President-elect of Chile, José Antonio Kast.

During his speech, Sergio Díaz-Granados, CAF's executive president, underscored the historic nature of the meeting and the need to strengthen regional integration in the face of global challenges "This Forum was created to think about how we can give our nations the necessary coordination capabilities and how we can strengthen our region, integrating among ourselves and with the rest of the world. In the midst of fragmentation, we need broad, bold and high-impact spaces for reflection to align positions, add geopolitical protagonism, and provide the region with its own voice to contribute concrete solutions and courses of action".

Díaz-Granados also highlighted CAF's role in supporting countries in solving regional problems and its expansion plans for the next 5 years: "We have the foundations to achieve exponential growth of our portfolio: we aspire to expand the bank by at least 70% by 2031, which means close to USD 100 billion in new approvals, and at least 20% of them for the private sector".

Bolivia will play a leading role in the Forum

The Bolivian delegation will develop a specific agenda aimed at showing the political and economic transformation process that the country is promoting, as well as the reforms aimed at attracting investment, correcting macroeconomic imbalances and reinserting Bolivia in the regional agenda.

Among the highlights will be the panel "Bolivia: Growth, Investment and Sustainable Development Agenda", which will address opportunities to diversify the productive matrix through agribusiness, manufacturing, tourism, green mining and lithium.

In addition, Bolivian businessmen and leaders of sectoral chambers and exporters will participate in the Business Roundtable "Latin America and the Caribbean: Connection to the Global Market", where alliances will be sought with companies from more than 70 countries. Bolivia will also have a country stand with sector information, investment opportunities and national product offerings.

The Forum includes keynote speeches, high-level debates, networking spaces and multilateral meetings. Global experts will analyze scenarios of change in energy, production systems, sustainable finance and digitalization.