The Eurasian Economic Union & Latin America and the Caribbean: A Transcontinental Partnership

Establishing relations between the EAEU and LAC regions has been neither simple nor swift, but rather has resembled a tangled movement in search of mutual interests and sustainable communication. The primary reason is the two regions’ diverse historical background and economic ties. However, despite their geographic remoteness, the two regions have several commonalities. Among others, both regions are important global suppliers of raw materials and agricultural products, leading to dependence on global demand. On the other hand, there are large intraregional differences, especially in the LAC region, where southern countries differ much from northern and Caribbean ones. Measurement of FDI flows is made more complicated by limited official statistics, but it is certain that LAC inflows are far greater than those to EAEU countries. The mutual investment flows are hard to estimate but seem to be primarily driven by EAEU investors from extractive industries. Some LAC investors follow a market-seeking strategy that brings them to the EAEU market. An important factor is the increasing number of financial flows injected into LAC offshore territories. Offshore investment volumes are particularly significant for the Russian Federation. Since the imposition of sanctions against the largest EAEU economy, investment from offshore jurisdictions, including the LAC region, has increased. A remarkable area of mutual interest to the two regions is the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Considering the broad range of stages of economic development within and between the regions, it is difficult to provide an overall assessment of progress towards SDG achievement. To
provide a broader perspective on sustainable development, EEC and UNCTAD methodology of inclusive economic growth assessment is used. Whereas EAEU and LAC countries share comparable levels of economic development, from the perspective of inequality LAC countries must improve further. Finally, a range of areas is explored in which the two regions can find mutual benefits. These include areas of public interest and some in which the private sector has an opportunity to participate. The major challenges of these times, especially with regards to the COVID-19 crisis and climate change, are amongst those in which collaboration between the regions can have a positive impact.