The United States has deep economic ties to the Western Hemisphere. Through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, the Biden-Harris Administration's premier economic initiative for the region, the United States is strengthening and expanding our efforts to enhance regional competitiveness by focusing on the drivers of bottom-up and middle-out economic growth that will create good-quality jobs and more resilient supply chains.
The Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (known as the Americas Partnership or APEP) launched at the Summit of the Americas in 2022, includes member countries that represent90 percent of the hemisphere's GDP and nearly two-thirds of its people.
At the inaugural Leaders' Summit on November 3, 2023, President Biden and leaders of the eleven other Americas Partnership countries-Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay-deepened our shared commitment to ahemisphere that is among the most dynamic economic regions in the world. During the past year, Ministers from the Trade, Foreign Affairs, and Finance tracks have met to set goals and develop priority workstreams to intensify regional economic cooperation. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen all hosted their Americas Partnership ministerial counterparts to drive inclusive sustainable growth and strengthen critical supply chains in semiconductors, medical supplies, and clean energy and critical minerals.
One year on, the initiative is delivering concrete results to improve the lives of people throughout the region while creating economic opportunities within the hemisphere. As National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at the Brookings Institutionthis year, "we're working to make the Western Hemisphere a globally competitive supply chain hub for semiconductors, clean energy, and more."
Since its launch, the Americas Partnership is:
Driving investment and expanded entrepreneurship by leading efforts to train an inclusive and diverse cohort of entrepreneurs and connect them with financing opportunities.
- The Americas Partnership Investor Network was launched at a July 2024 White House meeting hosted by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. As part of the Network, a diverse group of angel and venture capital investors pledged to collectively invest more than $1 billion in early-stage companies and entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2030. The Inter-American Development Bank's innovation and venture arm, IDB Lab, contributed $300,000 toward implementation of this Investor Network by the Uruguay Innovation Hub and Endeavor, creating new opportunities for the region's next generation of high-impact entrepreneurs.
- The inaugural cohort of 46 impact enterprises from Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Panama graduated from USAID's CATALYZE Americas Partnership Accelerator program, with the next cohort of 119 impact enterprises from Barbados, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay in the training pipeline. The program's work across 10 target countries has mobilized the first $1.5 million of the investment goal of at least $20 million in two years.
- Canada's AcelerarMe Program is providing training and mentoring to businesswomen in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Mexico, executed by the Thunderbird School of Global Management. The program aims to graduate an estimated 450 entrepreneurs by 2026. Already, two active cohorts have completed the majority ofthe training and four new cohorts will begin training in January 2025.
- In 2024, Americas Partnership countries supported Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the Americas Partnership SME Inclusive Trade Inventory, including programs which assist micro-SMEs, that are owned and led by women, Indigenous persons, minorities, and those from historically underrepresented and underserved communities. This fall, Americas Partnership governments held a Best Practices Exchange to strengthen knowledge-sharing among APEP countries.
Advancing economic competitiveness and supply chain resilience for Americas Partnership economies.
- The Department of State has driven inclusive and sustainable growth by providing up to $7 million to the IDB's Biodiversity and Natural Capital Facility. This Fund for Nature is supporting Americas Partnership member countries with technical cooperation to mainstream climate, biodiversity, natural capital, and nature-based solutions into economic development plans and investments.
- To bolster semiconductor production capabilities across the Western Hemisphere, the Department of State, in collaboration with the IDB, unveiled the CHIPS ITSI Western Hemisphere Semiconductor Initiative. This groundbreaking initiative, supported through the CHIPS Act International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund, is enhancing semiconductor assembly, testing, and packaging capabilities in key Americas Partnership countries, beginning with Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica. Under the initiative, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic signed MOUs with Arizona State and Purdue Universities to expand their skilled semiconductor workforce.
- The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and IDB Invest have supported almost $2 billion worth of projects in APEP member countries over the past year. In addition, DFC and IDB Invest launched the Americas Partnership Platform to facilitate co-investments, and added a $30 million technical assistance facility to support new and existing projects under the Platform.
- The Inter-American Development Bank delivered a "Phase I" report to Americas Partnership members in June 2024 to evaluate and enhance members' competitiveness in the three priority supply chain sectors (semiconductors, medical supplies, and critical minerals). This report highlighted the scale of the nearshoring opportunity in our region, while identifying areas where targeted policy innovations and infrastructure improvements will attract additional investment. In the next stage, the IDB is engaging policymakers and other stakeholders throughout the region to develop concrete, country-specific policy recommendations in a set of "Phase II" reports.
- Americas Partnership countries launched the Americas Partnership Clean Hydrogen Working Group, co-led by Chile, Uruguay, and the United States. Backed by the Department of State's Power Sector Program, the Working Group seeks to ensure the Western Hemisphere is a global leader in clean hydrogen development and deployment as countries seek to meet their national clean energy and climate goals.
- APEP countries have led a wide range of initiatives on key member priorities. For example, Ecuador and Peru have joined forces to promote sustainable food production. The Dominican Republic has led an effort to promote transparency and integrity in the public sector. Chile is spearheadingexpanded cooperation in civil and commercial space affairs. Supported by agencies like the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), Americas Partnership countries are also aiming to improve regulatory systems and market access for essential medical products across the region.
- Finally, trade ministers are using the Americas Partnership to promote regional implementation of the 2022 Summit of the Americas Declaration on Good Regulatory Practices, with the goal of promoting compatibility in technical standards that will strengthen supply chains.
In the year since the November 3, 2023 Leaders' Summit, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked together with the members of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity to take concrete steps towards fulfilling the hemispheric vision of economic prosperity for all of our citizens.
