The trend reversed after 1997, as the Crisis reduced the volume of goods imported from Latin America. Though in some cases the Crisis also affected the price of Latin American products, its impact has been manageable for their economies due to their solid base and the rapid reaction by their governments. In effect, the tsunami of the Asian Crisis has traveled to the other side of the Pacific. This Latin American scenario could be added to the convulsions already registered in Southeast Asia, Japan, Russia and Brazil. Asia and Latin America need to redefine their attitudes toward the risks intrinsic to financial markets.
Convulsions occur more frequently and each time their effects are felt more widely.
This underlines the urgency of increasing exchanges of opinion and coordinating actions. The Crisis forces us to review many of the criteria on which we have based our development policies and export strategies. A time of change such as this is the precise opportunity to launch an initiative that joins our countries in a dialogue to address common problems. A Peruvian proposal to this effect was made in Shanghai in 1996. Among others, they can provide the technical studies and the statistical information with which we can identify lines of action and even projects for joint development.