Montevideo, 28-29 May, 1998

As economic integration in the Southern Cone moves forward, the need to create and strengthen regional institutions is becoming evident. This task is not the exclusive responsibility of governments, but concerns all the regional actors with a stake in social and economic development. At the same time, the collective needs in terms of timely and relevant research outputs tend to grow rapidly as these economies and societies become more interdependent. 

The Mercosur Economic Research Network is a joint effort of a prestigious group of research institutions, with the aim of supplying a rigorous and independent view of the integration process. Its broader goal is to contribute to civil society's participation in the integration process, and to facilitate the adoption of better policies to complement it. The Network is being conceived as independent from the governments, but actively interacting with the negotiations and the whole integration process. 

The following institutions have expressed their will to become members of the Network: 

ARGENTINA:  

• Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES) 
• Centro de Investigaciones para la Transformación (CENIT) 
• Instituto Torcuato DiTella 

BRAZIL  

• Instituto de Economía, Universidade Estadual de Campinas 
• Instituto de Economía, Universidade Federal de Río de Janeiro 
• Instituto de Pesquisa Económica Aplicada (IPEA) 

PARAGUAY  

• Centro de Análisis de Economía Paraguaya (CADEP) 

URUGUAY 

• Centro de Investigaciones Económicas (CINVE) 
• Depart. de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República 

Other regional institutions will be part of a broader circle of partners maintaining cooperation links with the Network. 

The Network has received initial support from the International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC), which has provided funding for the activities related to bringing the research institutions together and setting a preliminary research agenda. It will also support concrete research activities to be carried out by the Network. 

The members of the Network will meet in Montevideo, on May 28-29, to agree on the operational principles and define --in consultation with different agencies and policy makers-- a research agenda that is relevant to the region. According to some initial explorations that will have to be ratified at the meeting, during an initial period the Network would have a coordinator based in Montevideo.