The Latin America and Caribbean region has a population of approximately 650 million and a GDP of over US$4.7 trillion (approximately 1.9 times that of ASEAN), and is home to plentiful natural resources symbolized by the Amazon region and a world-class agricultural production base.
While the region faces development challenges in various areas such as inequality, deforestation and environmental conservation, water resource management, and access to health and medical care, the region is attractive as a market because of its relatively high income level, economic scale, and common cultural foundation in terms of language and religion.