CNE launches tool to guide Puerto Rico’s economic growth
The Center for a New Economy (CNE) has introduced an analytical tool designed to guide Puerto Rico’s long-term economic strategy by identifying the island’s productive strengths and the industries with the highest potential for growth.
The initiative, “Economic Complexity: How Data Can Guide Puerto Rico’s Economic Revitalization,” seeks to shift the island’s focus from fiscal stabilization to coordinated, data-driven development planning.
Nearly a decade after the creation of the Financial Oversight and Management Board, CNE noted that Puerto Rico remains at a critical juncture: while its fiscal situation has stabilized, economic growth continues to lag.
The new framework was presented during a working session with private-sector leaders at the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association, following a workshop held earlier this year. Participants agreed that Puerto Rico’s future depends on maximizing its current capabilities and expanding into emerging, high-value-added industries.
“Economic Complexity helps us understand what Puerto Rico is capable of producing and what it could easily learn to produce,” said Rosanna Torres, president of CNE. “It’s about transforming data into strategic direction so that the public and private sectors can work in a coordinated manner toward a smart, evidence-based growth model.”
Rafael Vélez-Domínguez, president of the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association, said the tool provides “a road map for Puerto Rican industry not only to adapt but to lead with innovation and added value. Today more than ever, we are taking firm steps to transform our strengths into real opportunities and work through public-private collaboration to position Puerto Rico as a competitive industrial hub in the region.”
The tool measures not only what Puerto Rico produces today but also the sophistication of that production, highlighting opportunities to diversify beyond the pharmaceutical sector into advanced manufacturing niches.
The CNE recommends integrating the methodology into public policy by publishing complexity indicators regularly, training agencies to use data in decision-making, involving the private sector in identifying growth opportunities and aligning incentives with sophisticated industry development.
“Puerto Rico has the knowledge capital necessary to compete globally. What we lack is multisector coordination,” Torres said.
