Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, issued a stark warning about the global economy during a major regional forum in Panama City. Speaking at the 2026 Latin America and Caribbean International Economic Forum, she described a world at a crossroads defined by anxiety and accelerating geopolitical shifts.<\/p>\n
The event was organized by the CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean<\/a>. Grynspan argued that international dialogue has transformed from a mere formality into a strategic necessity. This change comes amid rising tariff pressures and a noticeable increase in global Protectionism<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite a hardening of trade policies in 2025, Grynspan noted international commerce demonstrated unexpected resilience. A key driver has been the explosive growth of South-South trade. This segment now accounts for 30 percent of all global trade, with the broader Global South involved in 40 percent of total exchanges.<\/p>\n Seventy percent of world economic growth originates in the Global South today. That dynamic growth, however, coexists with severe inequality. Millions still wait for a genuine opportunity to escape poverty, she cautioned.<\/p>\n “It is still January, and 2026 has not begun, it has exploded. History is accelerating,” Grynspan stated. [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n She painted a picture of a world navigating multiple conflicts, rapid technological change, and an increasingly decentralized economy. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)<\/a> leader emphasized that a multipolar world could evolve into cooperating blocs or colliding ones. The outcome hinges on decisions made now.<\/p>\n Grynspan pressed Latin America and the Caribbean to present a unified front. Division makes the region more fragile, she insisted. Regional integration should be treated as a matter of strategic relevance, especially when geopolitics and geoeconomics are intertwined more tightly than ever.<\/p>\n She pointed to practical avenues for progress. Integration can advance through shared infrastructure, trade facilitation, regional investment, and scientific cooperation. In the current climate, she argued, strong regionalism is itself a form of multilateralism.<\/p>\n “A multipolar world without multilateralism will lead us to fragmentation; a multipolar world with multilateralism opens the door to cooperation and inclusion,” Grynspan concluded. [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The multilateral system itself faces a crucial test. Being a multilateralist today means being a reformist, Grynspan asserted. Institutional sluggishness creates costs the world can no longer afford. Her remarks underscore the high stakes for global governance forums struggling to adapt to new economic realities.<\/p>\n Grynspan specifically praised Panama as the perfect venue for this critical dialogue. The country demonstrates that cooperation is not an abstraction but a basic infrastructure for understanding between peoples. This forum occurs as Panama continues to solidify its role as a hub for international dialogue within the Secretary General<\/a> of regional affairs. The call for unity presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the diverse nations of Latin America\u00a0and the Caribbean as they navigate an uncertain global landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, issued a stark warning about the global economy during a major regional forum in Panama City. Speaking at the 2026 Latin America and Caribbean International Economic Forum, she described a world at a crossroads defined by anxiety and accelerating geopolitical shifts. The event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,29],"tags":[683,488,2405,363],"class_list":{"0":"post-11051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-economy","8":"category-politics-government","9":"tag-geopolitics","10":"tag-global-trade","11":"tag-head-warns-global-trade","12":"tag-unctad"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11052,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11051\/revisions\/11052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Resilience Amidst Rising Protectionism<\/h2>\n
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A Call for Latin American Unity<\/h2>\n
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