October 24, 2024 – Representatives of the Pacific Alliance, a regional bloc made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, participated in Latin America Week 2024, an annual event organized by the Institute of Management for Latin America of the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, whose objective is to promote collaboration between Swiss and Latin American institutions in the fields of science, innovation and diplomacy.

The “Roundtable on the Pacific Alliance: Opportunities and Challenges Beyond Trade” was organized in conjunction with the Embassy of Chile in Switzerland, which this year holds the pro tempore presidency of the bloc, and in collaboration with the other PA embassies, and focused on the opportunities and challenges facing the Pacific Alliance beyond trade.

In particular, Chile’s Ambassador to Switzerland, Frank Tressler, presented the work of the Pacific Alliance in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and promoting gender equality. The Ambassador of Colombia in Switzerland, Francisco Echeverri, referred to the Pacific Alliance’s initiatives to facilitate the movement of people between member countries.

In the area of cultural cooperation, the Mexican Ambassador to Switzerland, Cecilia Jaber, presented the Pacific Alliance’s projects in the field of cultural cooperation. And finally, the Peruvian Ambassador to Switzerland, Luis Castro Joo, addressed the environment and, specifically, the work related to the sustainable management of plastics in the Pacific Alliance.

The event was attended by academics, policy makers, private sector representatives and people interested in regional integration in Latin America and the prospects for the Pacific Alliance.

Communications PPT 2024 Pacific Alliance

October 18, 2024.- Within the framework of the Cooperation Agreement on Tourism and the Specific Cooperation Program on Tourism, the Technical Group on Tourism of the Pacific Alliance held this week the webinar “Good practices that promote women’s leadership in the tourism sector”, which seeks to show opportunities for women’s participation in the workforce, thus expanding the role of women in society.

During the webinar, Conzuelo Contreras Rodríguez, in charge of the Local Development Sub-unit, of the Development Sub-directorate of the National Tourism Service (Sernatur) of Chile, presented the progress, achievements and challenges faced by this country in implementing a strategy focused on gender inclusion that has evolved over 22 years, highlighting the various initiatives related to gender and tourism for the industry that has been developed in Sernatur.

Likewise, Marai Tello Leyva, coordinator of the Sustainable Tourism Program, Friends of Siankaan and representative of Mexico, presented the implementation of the gender equality strategy of the “Kuxatur” project, which is the product of a collaborative analysis worked in three pilot sites: Baja California Sur, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo; which has managed to identify a set of external facilitating factors for gender mainstreaming, with emphasis on the community tourism sector of the 3 pilot sites, providing each party directly or indirectly involved with the project, a means of consultation and a tool that incorporates lessons learned and a set of good practices to generate synergies between actors and outline work plans both within the institution and on a multi-stakeholder scale.

About the Technical Group on Tourism

The objective of the TGT is to work on projects, activities and joint actions to strengthen the sector in the member countries of the bloc. These actions will be oriented towards the exchange of experiences, mutual support in multilateral scenarios, facilitation of mobility, and the realization of promotional events, or specialized business roundtables among others.

The Technical Group on Tourism will continue to work on activities that promote more women in leadership positions in the tourism sector, as well as other identified practices that contribute to closing economic gender gaps.

It is a priority for the Pacific Alliance countries to improve the empowerment of women and protect their rights in the tourism sector:

• Promote the entrepreneurial spirit of women in tourism.
• Promote women through education and training.
• Protect vulnerable women and those working in tourism businesses from their homes.

Communications PPT 2024 Pacific Alliance

September 30, 2024.- Today was held the 2nd meeting of the Technical Committee for the IX Pacific Alliance Youth Meeting, an event that will take place this coming October 23 at Espacio Riesco in Santiago, and which is organized together with the Swiss company Nestlé.

The meeting, held in the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, was headed by the general director (s) of Multilateral Economic Affairs of the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations of Chile, Cristóbal Ramírez, and the director of Corporate and Legal Affairs of Nestlé Chile, Andrés Eyzaguirre, accompanied by his team, and was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Economy, Agriculture, Education, Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Labor, as well as INJUV, CORFO and the Swiss Embassy in Chile.

The representatives of the company emphasized that the Meeting will have the active presence of close to one thousand young people, 700 young people from Chile as host country, plus 112 guests from Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and 7 from Costa Rica, plus 51 foreign guests, as well as companies, local associations and national and international press.

They also confirmed that the event will be inaugurated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Alberto van Klaveren, and by the recently appointed Global CEO of Nestlé, Laurent Freixe.

During the event, the Youth Expo will also be held, there will be panels, talks, a discussion with authorities of the Pacific Alliance, among other activities.

Communications PPT 2024 Pacific Alliance

• “A-Gente de Cambio: Promotion of mental health in adolescents” runs from September 13 to October 2.

September 17, 2024.- The National Secretariat of Youth (Senaju) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru, warmly welcomed the 20 young volunteers from the four member countries of the Pacific Alliance: Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, who will participate in the project “A-Gente de Cambio: Promotion of mental health in adolescents”.

The ceremony was led by the Director of International Cooperation of the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, César Jordán; the National Secretary of Youth, Carlos Vilela Del Carpio; and the Executive Director of the National Integral Program for Family Welfare, Jessica Ruiz.

“From Senaju we are very happy to be able to carry out a new edition of the Peruvian project A-Gente de Cambio: Promotion of mental health in adolescents. In Peru, 33% of young people between 15 and 29 years old had some mental or emotional health problem, although it is alarming, but it is also a reality that today we are already talking about it,” said the National Secretary of Youth, at the welcoming ceremony.

The 20 young people were selected from more than 1,050 applicants from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru for the Peruvian project, entitled “A-Gente de Cambio: Promotion of mental health in adolescents”, which seeks to promote the mental health of adolescents in vulnerable situations from a community approach.

The project will be developed in the Integral Family Development Centers (Cedif), belonging to the National Integral Program for Family Welfare (Inabif), of Las Dalias, in Chaclacayo; Turquesas, in Ancon; Año Nuevo; in Comas, Tahuantisuyo, in Independencia and Rosa de Lima in Villa Maria de Triunfo.

It is important to mention that the on-site stage of the project runs from September 13 to October 2 and the execution of the mental health promotion programs for adolescents in the Cedifs will be from September 17 to 27.

September 12, 2024.- The Pacific Alliance Network of Qualifications Framework Specialists (REMCAP), composed of representatives of the Ministries of Education of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, continues to advance in a work plan that aims at the future consolidation of a Regional Qualifications Framework for the regional bloc.

The technical teams of the Qualifications Frameworks of the Ministries of Education of the PA countries have been holding monthly sessions since June, which develop agendas to update the understanding of the state of progress of the Qualifications Frameworks in each country, as an input to constitute the first phase of contrast of the qualifications of the tourism sector.

Based on the progress made by Colombia and Chile in the development of the qualifications of the target sector, together with the development of the REMCAP sessions, it is projected that Peru and Mexico will optimize the population process they are initiating for their qualifications frameworks.

It is expected that the Network and the Technical Group on Education of the Pacific Alliance can make significant progress during the remainder of Chile’s pro tempore presidency and in the management that Colombia will assume in 2025.

COMMUNICATIONS PPT OF THE PACIFIC ALLIANCE

August 21, 2024.– Yesterday, the first meeting of the Working Group for the accession of Costa Rica to the Pacific Alliance (PA) was held, with the participation of the National Coordinators (NCs) of the PA and representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Costa Rica.

The meeting was chaired by the National Coordinators of Chile, Marcela Otero and Cristóbal Ramírez, representing the pro tempore presidency of Chile 2024, and was attended by the NCs of Colombia, Mexico and Peru. On behalf of Costa Rica, the Director General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Adriana Castro, and the Minister Counselor of the Directorate of Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Rolando Madrigal, were present.

“The process of Costa Rica’s accession to the Pacific Alliance will strengthen Latin American integration and give new impetus to our regional integration mechanism, with emphasis on a mixed economy model that reacts to the inequalities generated by the market, with the equality and sustainability that our countries require,” said Marcela Otero at the beginning of the meeting.

For their part, the representatives of Costa Rica thanked the event and expressed their complete willingness to work with the CNs.

This first meeting between Costa Rica and the PA marks the beginning of the process of joining the regional integration mechanism.

Communications PPT 2024 Pacific Alliance

August 8, 2024.- The second meeting of the Pacific Alliance English Network (RIAP) was held today. It is made up of representatives of the Ministries of Education of the countries of the bloc: Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

The working group of the Alliance’s English Network worked on the planning and organization of a Survey and established guidelines to launch a pilot of the form for English teachers in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru through their Ministries of Education.

The meeting was led by the team from the International Relations Office and the English Opens Doors program of the Chilean Ministry of Education, as coordinators of this network during the Chile 2024 pro tempore presidency.

It is expected that the Network and the Technical Group on Education of the Pacific Alliance will be able to meet this year in person in Santiago.

Communications PPT 2024 Pacific Alliance