On July 27 and 28, 2023, high-ranking government officials and Finance Ministers from over 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries, representing 90% of the region's population, convened in Cartagena, Colombia, for the First Ministerial Summit for "Inclusive, Sustainable, and Equitable Global Taxation."

The summit, co-hosted by Colombia, Chile, and Brazil, aimed to foster collaboration among the participating nations to create a fairer tax system for the future. Under the umbrella of ECLAC (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), the summit established an inter-ministerial Regional Platform to reach agreements on international tax policy. The objective is to promote progressive, equitable, and sustainable global fiscal policies from a regional perspective.

Latin America and the Caribbean suffer from significant wealth inequality, with the richest 10% owning 77% of household wealth, while the bottom 50% owns less than 1%. The region also faces challenges due to regressive tax systems, inadequate taxation of high incomes, and considerable losses of GDP due to tax fraud, evasion, and avoidance. Moreover, around 27% of the region's wealth is kept offshore, further straining the availability of resources for effective social policies to combat inequality and address the climate crisis.

The summit has already confirmed participation from various countries, includingMexico, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Barbados, and Ecuador. International organisations such as the United Nations, OECD, IMF, and IDB  attended as observers.

Over 50 organisations, networks, and social movements participated in the summit, some of whom will serve as official observers. They will emphasise the importance of making real progress towards a fair fiscal pact, with civil society calling for a strong Latin-Caribbean position in global processes and the implementation of the UN General Assembly resolution 77/244, which aims to combat illicit financial flows and tax evasion. Civil society advocates for genuine participation in the new Regional Platform, including the creation of a Permanent Consultative Council and active involvement in the working groups established during the Cartagena Summit.

Nobel Prize winner for economics, Joseph Stiglitz, delivered a plenary speech on Friday, July 28, focusing on "Building a fiscal policy agenda from the Global South."

Interested journalists can contact:

Giancarlo Summa - Coordinador de comunicación de la red de la sociedad civil 

Whatsapp:+33 7 84 58 45 43

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