CAF and the Banco de España reward young university talent

With an essay on the impact of COVID-19 on Latin American countries, José Ignacio León Nina, from the ESCP Business School, won first prize in the #Ideas para el Futuro university essay competition in Spain, while Laura González García, from the University of Vigo, won a special mention with her analysis of the impact of the MERCOSUR-EU agreement on trade relations between Latin America and Europe.

As winners of the competition, these young people have received recognition from José Antonio García Belaunde, CAF's representative for Europe, and from Óscar Arce, Director General of Economics and Statistics at the Bank of Spain. In addition, the winner of the Spanish phase will compete for the prizes of the Latin American phase which, in this edition, are: the Guillermo Perry prize (US$3,000), second prize (US$2,000) and third prize (US$1,000); these prizes will be awarded during the CAF Conference in Mexico City on 5 and 6 November.

In his speech, José Antonio García Belaunde highlighted the importance of competitions such as this one in order to incorporate the voices of young people in the search for innovative solutions to the region's challenges. "The COVID-19 crisis has made society suddenly face up to its own weaknesses and inconsistencies, and the resilience of our social model, of the functioning of the economy, is being tested, and especially the capacity of our governments and public institutions to respond, make decisions and be successful". "We are - added García Belaunde - facing a great opportunity to boost our development model and to underpin the recovery towards economies that are more resilient and sustainable, less unequal and more integrated. Our young people must be part of this path".

For his part, Óscar Arce, in addition to expressing his satisfaction with this new collaboration between the Bank of Spain and the CAF, within the framework of the International Cooperation Agreement signed last August between the two institutions, highlighted the relevance of the award-winning essays, which address two very important issues for Latin America. Firstly, the economic effects of the pandemic on the region and the scope for economic policies to tackle them and overcome their structural problems. Secondly, the effects of the Mercosur-EU agreement on trade and activity in its member countries. Both issues are on the Bank of Spain's agenda for analysing Latin America, as shown by several of the works published by the institution in recent months. These lines of research are part of one of the initiatives of the Banco de España's Strategic Plan for the period 2020-2024, which is to position the institution as a leading central bank in Latin America.

In this year's edition of the #IdeasParaElFuturo award, a total of 528 essays were received, 14 of them Spanish. A total of 3,444 young people registered for the competition. 

#IdeasParaElFuturo is a CAF initiative that promotes the exchange and discussion of ideas that contribute to sustainable development and regional integration through the promotion of the best university talent.