Local economic development and territorial competitiveness in Latin America

This article argues that the local and regional governments of Latin America, in an increasingly globalized world, must face new challenges that include establishing or improving their competitive strengths and transforming their local production systems. These two aspects must be linked to territorial policies and, more specifically, to the development of a territorial culture that embraces both. While it is true that enterprises are the ones that actually compete, their competitiveness may be enhanced if the territorial environment encourages this dynamic and if they themselves realize the importance of being enterprises “of the territory” rather than “in the territory”. This objective may be thwarted, however, by the existence of territories that are unequally prepared to meet these challenges. Different types of intervention need to be used, therefore, in terms of local and regional policies, to enhance the competitive strengths of such territories.