Speakers:

• Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic
• Andrés Gluski, Chairman, Americas Society/Council of the Americas; CEO, The AES Corporation (interviewer)
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (welcome)

“One of the few good things of this pandemic, because of the virtual obligation that we have, is that what was going to take five years to do, now we’re doing in five months,” said Dominican President Luis Abinader in a keynote address as part of the 2020 Washington Conference on the Americas virtual series. As such, technology can help improve educational inclusion, he said. The president, who took office in August, talked with Andrés Gluski about his plans for energy reform and rebooting the Caribbean’s largest economy in the wake of the pandemic. Along with promoting Dominican exports and attracting more foreign direct investment, tourism will be a key driver of the recovery, said Abinader, who noted that at the moment, hotel reservations are at 50 percent of their levels at this point last year, which, all things considered, “is not bad.”

Panelistas:

• Andrés Escobar, Ex Viceministro de Hacienda y Ex Subdirector del Departamento Nacional de Planeación 
• Ángela Hurtado, Directora, J.P. Morgan Colombia
• Ernesto Revilla, Economista Jefe para América Latina, Citigroup
• Lisa Schineller, Directora y analista líder, S&P Global Ratings
• Andrea Jaramillo, Corresponsal jefe en Colombia, Bloomberg News (moderadora)

Un panel de expertos financieros en la conferencia virtual de AS/COA en Bogotá discutieron el panorama complejo que espera Colombia en los meses que vienen. Sin embargo, a pesar de una gran incertidumbre, Colombia verá una recuperación más rápida en comparación a otras economías latinoamericanas, dijo Ernesto Revilla de Citigroup. Una de las fuerzas de Colombia en particular es que el gobierno tiene una trayectoria de logros previos, dijo Lisa Schineller de S&P Global Ratings, lo que indica que se va a poder cumplir con más hacía adelante. La pandemia ha revelado que “necesitamos mayor cobertura y equidad”, dijo Ángela Hurtado de J.P. Morgan, resaltando la importancia de una flexibilidad laboral para bajar la tasa de desempleo y acelerar el ritmo de la recuperación económica. Al ser preguntado por la moderadora y periodista Andrea Jaramillo sobre algunas áreas de oportunidad, el ex Viceministro de Hacienda Andrés Escobar sugirió refrenar la deuda pública, considerar la privatización y aprobar una reforma tributaria eficaz.

Speakers:

• Veneta Andonova, Dean, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
• Ignacio de la Vega, Dean, EGADE Business School, Tec de Monterrey, Mexico
• Peter Yamakawa, Dean, Universidad ESAN, Peru
• Alberto Trejos, Dean, INCAE, Costa Rica and Nicaragua
• Joanne Li, Dean, FIU Business School, United States (moderator)
• Jerry Haar, Professor and Executive Director for the Americas, FIU Business School (moderator)
• Maria Lourdes Gallo, Vice President, AS/COA Miami (chair)

Deans of business schools in Latin America shared their insights and perspectives on a virtual panel on the challenges they face as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. They discussed opportunities for business schools to stay relevant and provide guidance to the business sector as Latin America looks toward a post-COVID landscape. The speakers also shared thoughts on online education and how that affects business schools and executive education.