The ambassadors of the four countries of the Pacific Alliance: Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and the commercial counselors from their promotion agencies made a joint statement highlighting the potential of this integration bloc to foster the trade in services with Australia. This took place during the promotion seminar BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR AUSTRALIA AND THE PACIFIC ALLIANCE that was held on October 20 in Sydney, Australia, with the participation of business representatives from different sectors, entrepreneurs, chambers of commerce, government representatives and academics.

Paula Moreno, Commercial Director for ProChile in Australia, made an introductory presentation about the Pacific Alliance as part of her welcoming the attendants, on behalf of Chile’s pro tempore presidency.

Mr. Grame Barty, Executive Director of International Operations for the Australian promotion agency Austrade, also welcomed the participants, noting the relevance of the Pacific Alliance for doing business with Australian companies, encouraging them to diversify their trade with this growing region and to consider a greater rapprochement in order to explore new business possibilities with the member countries.

Augusto Castellanos, commercial counselor for ProColombia, Esaú Garza, commercial counselor for ProMéxico and Ricardo Salamanca, counselor from PromPerú, along with Ms. Moreno, also spoke about the business opportunities and complementarities that each of the member countries offers to Australian exporters.

The importance and the impact of the Pacific Alliance were addressed by a panel formed by HE Daniel Carvallo, ambassador of Chile, HE Clemencia Forero-Ucrós, ambassador of Colombia, HE Armando Álvarez, ambassador of Mexico, and HE Miguel Palomino de la Gala, ambassador of Peru. The panel was moderated by Ms. Rhonda Piggott, Director of the New South Wales State Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade –DFAT. The main advances and goals of the Pacific Alliance were pointed out during this exchange of ideas, those being, in a nutshell, to reach the development and competitiveness of the member States in order to achieve a greater wellbeing, overcome socioeconomic inequality, promote social inclusion among their inhabitants and become a platform of projection to the world, with a special emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region, through the free flow of goods and people.

Important details for the Australian industry were also highlighted, such as the completion of the agreement between the four countries of the PA for the total trade of goods, the joint opening of consular and trading offices and the consolidation of the mechanism as the most dynamic bloc of countries in Latin America.

Later on, Ms. Loreto Leyton, Executive Director for the Chile-Pacific Foundation, spoke about the most important aspects of the Pacific region.

Lastly, Director Piggot summarized the high points of the event, reiterating the enormous potential that the Pacific Alliance represents for the expansion of business and trade between Australia and the Alliance’s member countries.

There will be an ongoing work to analyze business opportunities with the Pacific Alliance with the more than 70 people who attended the seminar, which concluded with a reception providing a space for exchange and reach out between the participants and the speakers.

Alianza del Pacífico (octubre 14/16). After finishing a round of meetings of more than 10 technical groups of the Pacific Alliance (PA) that took place this week in the city of Santiago, today gathered the High Level Group, formed by the vice-ministers of Commerce and Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and the general director of International Economic Affairs of the Foreign Office, Andrés Rebolledo, who led the meeting on behalf of Chile’s pro tempore presidency of the PA.

“This is the first meeting of vice-ministers after the Puerto Varas Summit. We were greatly impressed by the advances reported by each of the technical groups involving the presidential mandates set forth last July. After listening to their reports, we established an action plan for the next High Level Group meeting in Colombia by the end of this year in order to continue strengthening our integration mechanism”, said Andrés Rebolledo.

It is also worth mentioning the progress made on the coordination with the four countries’ business sectors, which is why the HLG received today representatives from the PA Business Council and the Swiss company Nestlé, along with the ambassador of Switzerland in Chile, all of which participate in developing an important cooperation program to foster youth employability within the member countries.

Another topic of relevance is the current work being done to close ties between the Pacific Alliance and ASEAN, where the agreement made between both integration blocs last September in New York as part of the UN General Assembly, is paramount.

Significant progress

Part of the review of the work of the technical groups performed by the vice-ministers of the HLG includes the level of progress on Regulatory Cooperation for pharmaceuticals and food supplements. This time the Regulatory Cooperation Group also met with representatives from the private sector of those sectors from the four countries that took part in the “Adjoining Room” (Cuarto Adjunto) exercise.

One of the groups that reported important progress is the People Mobility Group, who noted the definitive start of the exemption for visas to permanent residents of third markets when visiting member countries of the Pacific Alliance; the consulates cooperation project; and the agreements of the Vacation & Work program.

In the Chilean city of Puerto Varas, Los Lagos Region, the XI Summit of the Pacific Alliance (PA), which was attended by the Presidents of Chile, Michelle Bachelet; of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos; of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto; and of Peru, Ollanta Humal, came to an end today.

They were accompanied by the President-elect of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade as well as by senior government representatives from the four countries.

At the plenary meeting, the Presidents highlighted the achievements of the PA over the past year, including the entry into force of the Framework Agreement of the Alliance on July 20, 2015 and its Trade Protocol, on May 1, 2016. They also emphasized the increase in the number of observer states from 32 to 49, the advances in the preliminary framework for negotiations with ASEAN, the holding of an informal dialogue with APEC and the signing of a partnership agreement with Canada last June.

The foreign ministers signed the “Interinstitutional Agreement on the Implementation of a Mechanism of Consultation of Information for Immigration Purposes to Facilitate the Mobility of People” and its annex, the “Platform for Immediate Consultation of Information for Immigration Purposes to Facilitate the Mobility of People”. Likewise, the Ministers of Foreign Trade signed the “Second Protocol of Amendment to the Additional Protocol of the Framework Agreement of the Pacific Alliance”.

The presidential meeting concluded with the signing by the four Presidents of the Declaration of Puerto Varas, in which the pro tempore Presidency held by Peru for one year was officially handed over to Chile.

You can access the Declaration of Puerto Varas at: http://bit.ly/298yTMA

Puerto Varas, July 1, 2016

The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and the presidents of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos; of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto; and of Peru, Ollanta Humala, today brought to a close the Third Business Summit of the Pacific Alliance (PA), “Vision into the Future” in Frutillar, Los Lagos region, Chile.

In her introductory remarks, President Bachelet stressed the importance of strengthening innovation in the PA and the role that investment in young people’s education should have, in order to meet this challenge. In this regard she mentioned that Chile has developed policies to achieve a productive transformation.

For his part, President Santos highlighted the importance of the creation of the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA) as part of the efforts to broaden and deepen capital markets among the four countries. In that regard, he underlined the fact that, for the PA, to boost its digital integration is today a necessity.

In his speech, President Peña Nieto mentioned the priority that must be given to trade integration. He noted that it is necessary to publicize the value of this regional integration initiative, which to date has attracted the attention of 49 observer countries, as well as provided benefits for the people.

Meanwhile, President Humala emphasized the need to invest in education, noting that Peru has been promoting a firm policy to achieve a high-quality school education. He also indicated that education is a key point in the cooperation program of the Pacific Alliance.

Finally, the Presidents agreed that the creation of the Venture Capital Fund and the progress toward the internationalization of SMEs, will allow a better projection of the PA to other regions. Similarly, they stressed that the PA is one of the most attention-grabbing business initiatives in the world.

Business summit development

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile and the President of the Business Council of the Pacific Alliance (CEAP), Chilean chapter, conducted the opening of the event.

Later, the Foreign Minister of Chile, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, the Secretary of Economy of Mexico, and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru participated in the first panel of the morning.

Throughout the day, interventions by the Presidents of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, and of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, as well as by the President-elect of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski were made. Similarly, the ministers of finance of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru participated in a panel on financial integration and its challenges.

In the afternoon, participants were able to attend four panels that were held in parallel on the business opportunities for SMEs, entrepreneurship and innovation, trade facilitation and financial integration.

The III Business Summit of the Pacific Alliance (PA) attracted over 700 attendees, including top executives of companies and SMEs, and took place days after the IV Business Matchmaking event held in Santiago, which generated nearly USD 200 million in business prospects.

Frutillar, June 30, 2016

The vice-ministers of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of the member countries of the Pacific Alliance (PA), began today, at Hotel Patagonico in Puerto Varas, Chile, the XXXVI meeting of the High Level Group (GAN) of the integration body.

During this event, government officials fine-tuned details of the XI Summit of the Pacific Alliance, which will take place in that city of Los Lagos Region, on Friday, July 1.

This was essentially a working session aimed at reviewing details of the important events that will take place during this week: the meeting of the PA Council of Ministers, the meeting with the Observer States and the Summit of Heads of State of the Pacific Alliance.

Furthermore, the vice-ministers reviewed the schedule of activities to be carried out during the pro tempore Presidency of the Pacific Alliance that Peru will hand over to Chile after the XI PA Summit, which will include meetings with MERCOSUR, ASEAN and APEC; as well as the rotation of the coordination of the various technical working groups in the coming period.

International Press Center

At the same time, the authorities of the Pacific Alliance today visited the International Press Center that will operate during the entire Summit at Hotel Bellavista, which will have the capacity to accommodate some 200 local and international media professionals accredited to cover the XI Summit of the PA and its related meetings.

During this visit, it was announced that the four Heads of State of the member countries of the Pacific Alliance, the President of Argentina, the President of Costa Rica and the President-elect of Peru, over 40 ministers and vice-ministers, 280 representatives from observer countries, 715 business people and 170 journalists will be present at the Summit, which is a very important fact for the Pacific Alliance’s image.

The center, which will run from 10:00 to 19:00 hours, has Internet service through high-speed Wi-Fi and 120 workstations with Internet access and printers. The area will also have transmission and delivery of the official signal, spaces for interviews, documentation service with press releases and a rest area, and catering.

Puerto Varas, June 28, 2016

With the attendance of the presidents of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, the XI Summit of the Pacific Alliance will be held from June 28 to July 1, in the city of Puerto Varas, in southern Chile. The progress and prospects of this important integrative mechanism, as well as the challenges to promote the economic and social competitiveness of its member countries will be analyzed during this meeting, which will also be attended by delegates from the 49 observer countries.

Work will begin on June 28 with the meeting of the High Level Group (GAN), formed by the vice-ministers of Foreign Trade and Foreign Affairs of the four countries. The GAN is responsible for overseeing the progress of the technical groups, evaluating areas of opportunity and preparing proposals for projection and outreach to other countries and international organizations.

The Ministerial Meeting of the Pacific Alliance with the Observer Countries will take place the following day, which will be the starting point for the new work plan with those states. This event will seek to channel the collaboration programs and activities of the Pacific Alliance’s future projection through four panels that will focus on priority areas such as SMEs, Education, Science, Technology and Innovation and Trade Facilitation.

On June 30 the Ministers of Foreign Trade and Foreign Affairs will meet in order to make decisions regarding the development of the objectives and the specific actions provided in the Framework Agreement – the Alliance’s incorporation agreement – and in presidential statements.

 At the same time, the Business Summit of the Pacific Alliance will take place, in which more than five hundred business people from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru will participate, attended by the leaders of the four countries, the presidents of Argentina and Costa Rica and more than 20 representatives from the Business Council of the Pacific Alliance. At the meeting, the vision of economic and financial integration, as well as innovation and the entrepreneurial role in the leadership of the Pacific Alliance will be analyzed, among other topics.

 The main date will be July 1, when Heads of State Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and Ollanta Humala of Peru, will meet to set new mandates that will guide the future of the Alliance . On this date, Peru will hand over the pro tempore Presidency to Chile, which will be in charge of leading the implementation of the mandates.

 The accession of 49 Observer Countries with which substantial work plans are being developed under a new cooperation scheme is a reflection of the deep interest that exists around the world for this integration mechanism. The Summit will also be attended by representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Union (EU), and international organizations that have been supporting the Alliance’s integration projects.

Five years after its creation on April 28, 2011, the Pacific Alliance is a solid mechanism that as a whole is the world’s eighth-largest economy, formed by countries with an outstanding economic performance in the region.

 Its pillars are the free movement of goods, services, capital and people on a main axis of cooperation.

This activity was aimed at increasing the flow of tourists from the Chinese market to the member countries of the bloc and strengthening intraregional tourism.

• The event took place on 7 and 8 June and 2,430 business meetings were held.

• Next meeting to be held in Chile in the first half of 2017.

The 3º Tourism Matchmaking event of the Pacific Alliance, held in the Peruvian capital in order to strengthen the flow of travel within the intraregional sphere and encourage tourism from the Chinese market, brought forth business deals for USD 8 million between member countries of the bloc alone.

This figure was achieved thanks to the 2,430 business meetings held on 7 and 8 June and it represents a 43% increase against the previous event.

Outbound and inbound tour operators and airlines participated in this meeting. A total of 229 companies from the four member countries of the Pacific Alliance attended, with a significant participation of 20 Chinese tour operators, a market prioritized by the block for joint promotional actions. In this occasion, 30% of participants visited Peru for the first time.

“Success would not be possible without the commitment for a deep integration from the member countries of the Pacific Alliance. The III Tourism Matchmaking event has been an opportunity to strengthen the commercialization of combined packages for the Chinese market that include the main attractions of our countries, as well as to promote tourism products intraregionally,” said Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva Velarde-Alvarez, who will soon hand over the pro tempore presidency of the bloc to Chile.

 The countries of the Alliance recorded in the first quarter of this year an average 35% increase in arrivals of Chinese tourists. According to preliminary estimates, an average growth of 15% in visits of Chinese tourists to the bloc’s countries is expected by the end of this year, which means that over 170,000 Chinese tourists will be visiting Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

 INTEGRAL VISION

At the closing of the Matchmaking, Marisol Acosta, PromPeru’s director of Tourism Promotion, indicated that these business meetings allow to identify marketing opportunities, integrating new products into travel programs combined among the bloc’s countries, for both the intraregional and the Chinese markets: “Tourism between our countries has been favored with the entry of new airlines and new routes, as is the case for Mexico’s Interjet, Latam flights between Antofagasta and Lima and Avianca’s upcoming flight from Bogota to Cusco,” she said.

“In this meeting we are not only talking about destinations, but also of new products, like a gastronomy route integrated by the four countries. Additionally, through the bloc, we can take advantage of Mexico’s air connectivity with various world capitals,” said Omar Macedo, representative of Mexico Tourism Board for the Pacific Alliance.

Meanwhile, Joanne Ellis, Chile’s Vice-ministry of Tourism Advisor, pointed out that the Pacific Alliance represents an opportunity for the southern country to exploit, for example, the city’s attractions and the cuisine of Santiago de Chile. “We can also promote southern Chile’s Andean crossings to Argentina, which would be very interesting for Mexican and Colombian tourists. We are also increasingly working on the integrated routes with Peru,” she said.

“Our four countries do not compete with each other, we complement our destinations, gastronomy, routes and connectivity. We must find our strengths, since each country comes with an offer that is differentiated and complementary to a tourist package,” said lastly Enrique Stellabatti, ProColombia’s Vice President of Tourism Promotion.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

Next year, Chile will host the IV Tourism Matchmaking event, where US operators focused on the Chinese market will participate for the first time. This meeting will take place during the first half of 2017.

In addition, as part of the efforts to strengthen ties with China, a road show will be held in the cities of Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, from 19 to 26 August, that will include the participation of 28 companies from the tourism sector of the bloc. As many as 480 business meetings are expected to be held.

The Pacific Alliance was created with the aim of building an economic and trading regional integration in the Asia-Pacific market, particularly the Chinese market.

Lima, June 9, 2016

The Council of Ministers of the Pacific Alliance met today in Mexico City, in order to make progress on the different coordination efforts, in preparation for the XI Summit of Heads of State of the Pacific Alliance, to be held in Puerto Varas, Chile, next 1st of July.

The XV Ministerial Council meeting began with a minute of silence in memory of Ambassador Raúl Patiño Alvistur, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru and member of the High Level Group, who died recently in Lima.

As part of its program, the Council of Ministers evaluated the work done by the Technical Groups during the first half of 2016 and the fulfillment of the presidential mandates contained in the Declaration of Paracas 2015. It also analyzed the current state of external relationships of the Pacific Alliance, particularly with Observer States and other integration initiatives such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Mercosur. In this context, the Council of Ministers decided to accept the requests from a new group of countries as Observer States to the Pacific Alliance: Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia, Egypt, Ukraine, Argentina and Romania. Similarly, the issue of new mandates, in preparation for the next summit in Chile and the future development of the Alliance, was addressed.

Lastly, the Council of Ministers approved the creation of the Environment and Green Growth Technical Group, the Labor Technical Group, and the Digital Agenda Technical Subgroup.

In the course of this meeting, the Council of Ministers signed, together with the Minister of International Trade of Canada, a Joint Statement of Partnership between the members of the Pacific Alliance and said country, which will strengthen ties with Canada, this being the first statement of this nature.

It should be noted that the Pacific Alliance is a regional integration initiative formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, created on 28 April 2011. The countries in this initiative combine a population of 216 million people and account for 39% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Take a look at the photos of the event on our Flickr account ➤ http://bit.ly/1swur3y

Mexico City, June 8, 2016