Leaders from Americas Business Dialogue Discuss the Power of Partnerships

The Americas Business Dialogue (ABD) is led by a select number of business leaders from countries across the Americas. The goal of the ABD is to explore regional economic integration opportunities for improved procedures and regulatory practices.

During the U.S. Chamber’s IV CEO Summit of the Americas, Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of the Americas, moderated a panel discussion with leaders in the context of the ABD that included Bruce Mac Master, CEO of ANDI, Maria Teresa Arnal, CEO of Stripe Latin America, and Paul Dyck, Vice President of International Government Affairs at Walmart. The leaders talked about the importance of business partnerships across the Americas and how they contribute to sustainable growth in the region.

Transparency and Teamwork Are Necessary for Achieving Growth

The purpose of the ABD panel was to raise issues on behalf of the private sector so that people in control of governments can consider them and to discuss how the private sector can also contribute to these issues in a meaningful way. Dyck began the conversation by discussing the importance of transparency between the public and private sectors.

“One of the biggest obstacles to achieving those priorities [of economic and sustainable growth] is a lack of transparency or a lack of rule of law,” Dyck explained. “It stifles development, innovation growth, and — from the private sector — investment. With that unlocked … we’re able to invest more across markets.”

To Dyck, the key is working together with both private and public sectors using mutual resources to achieve this goal.

“Bringing in the digital transformation … there are some real tools that the public and private sector can work on together that can have a direct impact on reducing those obstacles around corruption and transparency, and be a bit great benefit to both,” said Dyck.

Digital Leadership Can Be Improved Across Latin America and the Caribbean

Farnsworth pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean may be behind when it comes to digital leadership. Arnal and the Americas Business Dialogue helped to identify four key recommendations to help solve this problem.

“The four things are increasing competition, interoperability, sharing regulatory frameworks and best practices, and fraud prevention,” Arnal explained. “I hope that here we can see the opportunity in a way where instead of dividing and conquering … we can actually work together as a region here and create some common front.”

Focusing On Physical Infrastructure Can Increase Connectivity

Turning to physical infrastructure, Farnsworth noted the gap across Latin America and the Caribbean, which Master addressed.

“So in order to really integrate and to have all the people really close to the rest of the world, we need a lot of infrastructure on the one hand,” Master explained. “On the other hand, we need a lot of regulation. We need regulation not only in order to be financeable and bankable, but we need regulation in order to be attractive for companies to invest in, in data-specific needs that we do have.”

Master also called for “making an integration in terms of the whole hemisphere” rather than for specific groups.