Policies to improve productivity and com- petitiveness have to recognize the region’s diversity and harmonize each country’s level of development, available resources and institutional capacity. The main objec- tives should foster an environment that is conducive to job creation by sustainable enterprises, build human capital through basic education as well as technical and core skills, encourage the application of decent and productive workplace practices, address sector-specific challenges through value-chain and cluster upgrading, and promote technologies and ways of doing business that are environmentally friendly.