More than a hundred representatives of the public and private sectors of the four countries that make up this regional integration mechanism discussed different actions that contribute to implementing the roadmap of the Pacific Alliance for the sustainable management of plastics.

October 29th, 2020. With the presence of environmental authorities from the four countries of the Pacific Alliance -Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru-, a virtual public-private dialogue on sustainable management of plastics was held today, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and is part of the roadmap developed by the Technical Group on Environment and Green Growth of the PA for the implementation of the Presidential Declaration on Sustainable Management of Plastics, adopted at the Lima Summit in July 2019.

This Presidential Declaration establishes the commitment to work on the analysis and development of initiatives that contribute to the integral management of plastics, including topics such as the regulation of single-use plastics, innovation, research and development, consumer education and information, use of substitute products, and reduction of the impact of plastic waste on ecosystems, among others.

In his speech, Javier Naranjo, Undersecretary of Environment of Chile, country that holds the pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance, highlighted that “in Chile, we understand that the sustainable management of plastics is a problem that transcends borders and, therefore, cannot be addressed only from national policies, but requires joint action both between countries and between different sectors, including the important contributions that may come from the private sector, academia and society in general”.

The Vice Minister of Environmental Management of Peru, Lies Linares, explained that “the Peruvian government has been promoting the proper management of plastic goods considering their entire life cycle, as an integral part of the commitment to the transition to a circular economy. This momentum will be strengthened with the collaboration and participation of all actors in the economy linked to plastic, and in which the alliance between fraternal countries, such as the Pacific Alliance, will allow to promote more sustainable economies as a regional bloc, thereby multiplying the positive impacts of this commitment”.

Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of Promotion and Environmental Regulation of Mexico, Tonatiuh Herrera Gutiérrez, added that “the sustainable management of plastics requires shaping management between the different countries. It is important to emphasize that the circular economy cannot be conceived without design and requires the involvement of consumers, producers, recyclers and authorities, as well as the importance that the effort must start from the communities.

The Pacific Alliance’s roadmap for the sustainable management of plastics identifies eight areas of action: (1) Regulation, good practices and public policies; (2) Innovation, research and business transformation; (3) Plastic waste management and recycling; (4) Circular economy; (5) Financing; (6) Education, information and citizen transformation; (7) Trade; (8) International cooperation.

During the dialogue, it was sought to identify concrete actions for public-private collaboration within the framework of the PA’s roadmap. To do this, the attendees participated in different working groups that analyzed a topic respectively: (1) Innovation, research and business transformation; (2) Plastic waste management and recycling; (3) Circular economy; and (4) Regulation, good practices and public policies. Each group was led by a Pacific Alliance country. The results achieved by each group were then shared and will be considered by the Environment and Green Growth Group in the development of actions to implement the roadmap.

PACIFIC ALLIANCE PPT COMMUNICATIONS

The SGT-MRV launches a synthesis report analyzing the challenges and opportunities of MRV systems for mitigation actions in the countries of the Pacific Alliance.

October 22, 2020. The increasing ambition to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Lima, 2019), the implementation of multilateral initiatives to combat climate change (Puerto Vallarta, 2018) and the strengthening of measurement, reporting and verification systems (MRV) for mitigation actions  (Cali, 2017) are part of the commitments made explicit by the countries of the Pacific Alliance (PA).

The Technical Subgroup on MRV and Climate Change (SGT-MRV) of the PA, supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), carried out baseline studies to analyze MRV systems for mitigation actions in Chile, Colombia and Perú (forthcoming for Mexico). With these studies as input, this synthesis report highlights the relevance and effectiveness of the MRV of mitigation actions in the PA countries.

The report reveals key elements to continue advancing the harmonization and effectiveness of the MRV of mitigation actions:

• National MRV systems for mitigation actions are in different stages of development and operation. All of them facing the challenges of being sufficiently operational, relevant and effective for inter-sectoral decision making at the national level. Its maturation toward greater effectiveness will depend on the strength of cross-institutional collaborations.

• National reports show the materialization of significant ambitions that are producing systemic change and the MRV of mitigation actions is on a solid trajectory towards a more effective configuration of equitable and low-carbon development policies and infrastructure investments.

• The increasing interest and demand for MRV systems continues to grow beyond their preliminary justification of complying with reporting obligations to multilateral environmental conventions. The experience of the PA countries has important value for other regional climate collaborations.

Regionally, the SGT-MRV continues to promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences while strengthening capacities at the national level to advance the creation and implementation of more effective climate policies.

The event will be developed in four days and will be completely online.

October 15th, 2020. Today begins the “Intersectoral Forum on Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Good Practices and Policies in the Pacific Alliance and Canada”, which is jointly organized by the countries of the Pacific Alliance -Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru- and Canada, an observer country of the Alliance, and which will be developed online for the first time.

The forum, which corresponds to the third one held in the framework of the Education for Employment Program at the Pacific Alliance, EPE-AP, funded by the Government of Canada (Global Affairs Canada), aims at exchanging good practices, innovative policies or guidelines and sharing knowledge and experiences, in order to generate a dynamic and enriching regional dialogue among the participating delegations.

The forum also aims to strengthen the capacities of national and regional actors, to accompany the development and implementation of policies and good practices on the priority challenges of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) related to the development of competent human resources for the extractive sector.

In addition, it is an opportunity for a dialogue between public, private and civil society actors, in order to identify the challenges and priorities of TVET; reflect on good practices; identify good practices, policies and guidelines; identify key actors linked to TVET and the ES to contribute to the establishment of a sustainable dialogue and for the future planned activities of the Program.

Representatives from the public sector, the private/productive sector and civil society from the four PA countries and Canada, and the general public are expected to participate as the sessions will be completely open.

The Third Forum has been divided into four days between October 15th and November 5th, where the topics will be: Panel A: Inter-Level Articulation: Qualification frameworks, labour skills certification, passability, previous learning and regional articulation; Panel B: Linking TVET and the Productive Sector: Diagnosis of the labour force, mechanism of articulation, revaluation of TVET and use of technologies; Panel C: Quality Assurance:Assessment of learning, distance education and practice modalities such as dual education; closing with a working session in subgroups of interest per country and topic.

EPE-AP Program

The Education for Employment Program at the Pacific Alliance (EPE-AP by its acronym in Spanish) is funded by the Government of Canada (Global Affairs Canada) with a contribution of 16 million Canadian dollars. Implemented by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), the Canadian association of technology institutes, the Program is regional in scope and has a duration of 6 years (from July 2016 to September 2022).

The Pacific Alliance Tourism e-Macro-Round concluded with business expectations exceeding US$ 6.7 million, thanks to the agreements reached by 189 participating companies that, during four days, completed more than a thousand business appointments and attended the academic activities programmed within the framework of the virtual event’s agenda.

October 13th, 2020. The VI Macro-Round of Tourism of the Pacific Alliance successfully ended on October 8th, after being held for the first time in a virtual format. This event marked the beginning of the reactivation of the tourism industry at a regional level, by bringing together 189 emissive and receptive companies of the region during four days, in 1,033 meetings that provided an ideal scenario for the generation and development of business with an expectation of US$ 6.7 million in total, of which US$ 1.2 million correspond to multi-destination sales.

In the e-Macro-Round of Tourism, led by the National Tourism Service of Chile (Sernatur), the Ministry of Tourism of Mexico, PROCOLOMBIA and PROMPERÚ, 14 emissive companies from Argentina and 12 from Brazil -invited countries-, 15 emissive companies and 22 receptive companies from Chile; 14 emissive and 29 receptive companies from Colombia; 15 emissive and 26 receptive companies from Mexico and 14 emissive and 28 receptive companies from Peru, met to exchange relevant information and news on their tourism offer and to agree on possible business scenarios in the medium and long term. The Chilean Undersecretary of Tourism, José Luis Uriarte, described this meeting as a “Great teamwork in the Macro-Round of Tourism of the Pacific Alliance that will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the recovery of the industry. Chile, which holds the pro tempore presidency of the PA, reiterates its firm commitment to the reactivation of the sector in the region”.

“These four days of the Macro-Round of Tourism of the Pacific Alliance were very beneficial for the tourism sector of the region, not only because of the magnificent business expectations it leaves, which for Colombia amount to US$ 2.3 million, but also because of the high number of commercial appointments that were made and the importance that this type of meeting has for the exchange of knowledge between countries and to strengthen ties. I am sure that, working hand in hand, we will move our region forward and even more so when we come together through such successful events as this one,” commented the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, José Manuel Restrepo.

For the Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico, Miguel Torruco Marques, “Today more than ever, these are times of innovation and therefore, these are times to create and to dream of a better tourism. With initiatives like this virtual Macro-Round we will make innovation our flag, and we will promote it as a key strategy for competitiveness, development and growth of this exciting activity, which is tourism,” says Miguel Torruco Marques, Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico.

“The success of the Tourism Macro-Round, organized for the first time in a virtual way and in the midst of a pandemic, is the result of the commitment assumed by the members of the Pacific Alliance in order to reactivate regional tourism. But this does not stop here. Together, as a block, we will continue working on various innovative and strategic actions to promote the recovery of the companies dedicated to the sector and that form its value chain. Let’s see this crisis as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and return with strength, with the task of taking forward the tourism of our countries,” says the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru, Rocio Barrios.

It is worth highlighting the impulse and hope that the regional industry receives, on the occasion of this VI Macro-Round of Tourism of the Pacific Alliance, after the aftermath left by the pandemic in most of the companies and businesses of the sector. In this sense, the Pacific Alliance foresees the development of additional innovative actions, aimed at supporting the tourism industry of the countries of the bloc, as well as third markets.

This is how the Pacific Alliance consolidates its commitment to tourism and the joint work in the development of actions and strategies that allow the good development of the economy of the member countries and allied markets of the Pacific Alliance.

September 29th, 2020. The National Coordinators of the Pacific Alliance (PA), a regional bloc where Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru participate, and their counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), met on September 28th via videoconference, to strengthen relations between the two regional mechanisms.

Both sides had a fruitful exchange of views on a wide range of topics, including their efforts to address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the initiatives developed to support economic revival in both regional integration mechanisms.

ASEAN noted that among the actions they have developed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, is the holding of special meetings within the bloc to coordinate responses and the establishment of an ASEAN Fund for COVID-19. The Pacific Alliance indicated that they are implementing an action plan to address the economic and commercial effects of this global pandemic. The Plan includes information exchange, trade facilitation measures, support for SMEs as well as e-commerce, among others.

The two parties highlighted the benefit of continuing to improve economic and trade ties between the two blocs and agreed to explore greater cooperation through the development of a new ASEAN-Pacific Alliance Work Plan (2021-2023), which will include areas such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution; Trade and Investment; SMEs; Education; Science, Technology and Innovation; Digital Economy; Gender and Sustainable Development.

The meeting was co-chaired on behalf of the Pacific Alliance by Angélica Romero, Director General of Multilateral Economic Affairs of SUBREI and National Coordinator of Chile, the country that holds the pro tempore presidency of the PA, together with the Ambassador of Chile to Indonesia, Gustavo Ayares; and on behalf of ASEAN by H.E. Ade Padmo Sarwono, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to ASEAN. The National Coordinators of Colombia, Mexico and Peru as well as the Permanent Representatives of the ASEAN Member States actively participated in the meeting. The Ambassadors of the Pacific Alliance countries to ASEAN and representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat were also present.

PACIFIC ALLIANCE PPT COMMUNICATIONS

With a series of public-private dialogues, which will take place this year, the regional mechanism advances in the construction of a Roadmap for the Creation of Digital Talent.

September 29th, 2020. The second session of the series of public-private dialogues to accelerate the creation of Digital Talent in the Pacific Alliance took place today. In the session “Bootcamps, Agile Solutions to Accelerate and Transform Talent”, different experts examined the case of bootcamps as a tool to create digital talent, and which have emerged as a response to the context, galvanizing an alternative path to traditional education.

In this second session, the leading specialist of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Juan Carlos Navarro, developed the presentation: “The methodology of the Bootcamps”, where he highlighted the importance of the innovation that is taking place in the education of workers in the area of programming and other advanced digital skills; the phenomenon of the bootcamps is the best expression of this type of innovation, which are playing a central role around the world in responding to the exponential growth in demand for programmers. Latin America must be proactive so as not to miss this development opportunity.

The panel “How are programming bootcamps adapting in the global context and how can they support the creation of digital talent for economic recovery?” was also developed, with the participation of CEOs and founders of Bootcamps from the European Union, such as Olivier Crouzet, Director of Pedagogy, École 42; Boris Palliard, global CEO and founder of Le Wagon; and Nayib Abdala, Partner and Head of Product Strategy Make It Real Camp, which was moderated by Elena Heredero from the IDB.

The conversation revolved around bootcamps and related approaches as a tool for creating digital talent: what works and what doesn’t?; challenges, opportunities and forms of adaptation that bootcamps are facing in the current context of COVID-19; in addition, experiences and recommendations for countries and entrepreneurs were presented.

The webinar was closed by the Director General for Multilateral Economic Affairs of the Undersecretariat for International Economic Relations of Chile (SUBREI), Angélica Romero, who pointed out that “it is urgent for us to be able to address in an integrated way the reduction of the existing digital gaps in our countries with a view to facing the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

As a complement to this activity, a Workshop was held in the afternoon where officials from the four countries talked with regional entrepreneurs about the local experience of bootcamps in the countries of the Pacific Alliance. In addition, working tables were held to share local experiences, lessons learned, possible new actions, as well as topics such as certification, regulation and financing, among others.

Digital Talent Roadmap

The Pacific Alliance countries have agreed to carry out a series of public-private dialogues in order to build a Digital Talent Roadmap in the Pacific Alliance, with specific public policy actions and business initiatives aimed at the creation, acceleration and sustainability of Digital Talent.