The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will present tomorrow, Thursday, July 2, Special Report COVID-19 No. 4 on monitoring the economic and social effects of the coronavirus in the region, entitled Businesses and sectors facing COVID-19: emergency and reactivation.
The new document measures and analyzes the effects of the crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean’s business world and production sectors. It combines a short-term view, centered on the emergency, with a longer-term perspective that is of special importance for the reactivation. It proposes measures for protecting companies of different sizes and employment, and stresses the significance of policies for the reactivation.
The report will be unveiled during a virtual press conference held by Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, speaking from Santiago, Chile at 12:00 p.m. local time (UTC/GMT -4:00).
It will be transmitted live via Webex at the following link:
https://eclac.webex.com/eclac/onstage/g.php?MTID=eb515aaf0d1cef51c5d9e38047acc0f45
Journalists interested in participating must register in advance. They will receive an automated email reply with instructions for connecting to the event.
The press conference will also be transmitted online via the institution’s website and its social media accounts on Twitter (@eclac_un) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/eclac). Journalists will be able to submit their questions ahead of time to the email address conferenciaprensa@cepal.org, and ECLAC’s Executive Secretary will respond to them once she has finished presenting the document. Questions will only be taken until 12:30 p.m. local time.
According to the report, the economic crisis prompted by COVID-19 is battering a production and business structure characterized by low productivity and excessive heterogeneity between sectors and between companies, which are weaknesses that have emerged over the course of decades. The report evaluates the effects on companies – Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in particular – and the consequent destruction of employment positions. Quantitative estimates on the number of companies that will likely close and jobs that will be lost, along with policy proposals for the current situation, will be part of the new report that the United Nations regional commission’s Executive Secretary will unveil this Thursday, July 2.
Members of the media are invited to participate in the virtual press conference. Journalists must connect via the Webex system (prior registration is required) as of 12:00 p.m. local time (UTC/GMT -4:00). Accredited journalists will be able to send their questions in writing via the Webex platform’s chat while the event is taking place. They can also send their queries to the email address conferenciaprensa@cepal.org. Questions will only be taken until 12:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, July 2.
The presentation will also be transmitted on ECLAC’s website and via YouTube at https://youtu.be/RurLGomO63U .
The full electronic version of this new document by ECLAC, along with a press release and the presentation by Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena, will be available on ECLAC’s website and on the webpage of the COVID-19 Observatory in Latin America and the Caribbean on Thursday, July 2, as soon as the press conference has concluded.
What: Launch of ECLAC’s Special Report COVID-19 No. 4: Businesses and sectors facing COVID-19: emergency and reactivation.
Who: Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary.
When: Thursday, July 2, 2020, 12:00 p.m. local time in Chile (GMT -04:00).
Where: Virtual connection via the Webex platform (prior registration required).
https://eclac.webex.com/eclac/onstage/g.php?MTID=eb515aaf0d1cef51c5d9e38047acc0f45
Event number: 160 747 8849
Event password: Rcovid4
Also via ECLAC’s website and at https://youtu.be/RurLGomO63U .
For queries and to arrange interviews, contact ECLAC’s Public Information Unit.
Email: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56 2) 2210 2040.
