On March 13, the Council of the Americas and the Bertelsmann Foundation hosted a discussion about the Pacific Alliance with trade experts and the ambassadors from Peru, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and Costa Rica to the U.S. They also spoke about a new Bertelsmann Foundation report, The Pacific Pumas, which highlights advances and opportunities created by the trade bloc.

Speakers:

• Harold W. Forsyth, Ambassador of Peru to the U.S.
• Eduardo Medina Mora, Ambassador of Mexico to the U.S.
• Luis Carlos Villegas, Ambassador of Colombia to the U.S.
• Mauricio Hurtado, Chargé d'Affaires, Embassy of Chile to the U.S.
• Antoni Estevadeordal, Manager, Integration and Trade Sector, Inter-American Development Bank
• Samuel George, Project Manager, Bertelsmann Foundation
• Annette Heuser, Executive Director, Bertelsmann Foundation (moderator)

AS/COA Online interviewed the World Resource Institute's Senior Associate for Natural Infrastructure and Water Todd Gartner during the Latin American Cities Conference in Lima, Peru.

Gartner talked about the importance of adding the usage of natural infrastructure—environments already present in a country such as forests, rivers, and mountains—to complement other efforts in water management. He said Latin America and countries like Peru have great potential to implement new technology in conjunction with natural infrastructure. "Part of the advantage [Latin American countries] have is that, unlike other places on the globe, they have not seen dramatic econsystem degradation. So they still have a strong asset to build from," explained Gartner. 

Khoo Teng Chye, executive director of the Centre for Liveable Cities at Singapore's Ministry of National Development, discussed water management in Peru and the lessons that the Andean country can learn from Singapore.

The island city-state has expanded its water supply by harvesting storm water through reverse osmosis, using desalination on the sea water, and recycling water. Rainfall now accounts for two-thirds of Singapore's water supply, while 30 percent of all the country's reservoir comes from recycled water.

Access the 2013 Latin American Cities Conferences: Lima panel and video highlights.

Speakers:

• José Giancarlo Gasha Tamashiro, Vice Minister of Economy and Finance of Peru
• Luis Rivases, Vice President, Andean Region Debt Capital Markets, Citigroup
• Erich Arispe, Director of Sovereign Ratings, Fitch Ratings
• Gonzalo Zegarra, Director, Semana Económica (moderator)

Speaker:

• Marisol Espinoza, Vice President of Peru