• The initiative was financed by the PA Cooperation Fund, and executed by the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture of Chile, through the Universidad de Concepción and the Future of Fish Foundation.

The coronavirus directly affected the economic activities of all sectors worldwide. The Pacific Alliance (PA) countries were no exception. It is in this context that the project “Promoting the marketing and consumption of artisanal fishery and aquaculture products in the Pacific Alliance, in order to contribute to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic” was born.

The initiative, financed by the PA Cooperation Fund, and developed during 7 months, ended with an online workshop to share the results, strengths and difficulties of the process, and the experiences on the measures taken in each country to face and mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

Juan Fernando Cifuentes Restrepo, from Colombia Productiva and current Coordinator of the Technical Group on Fisheries and Aquaculture (GTPA) of the PA, indicated that this project was born within the framework of the work plan of this instance and that “it is the materialization of its lines of work, of course, since it has counted on the work and commitment and the contribution of the experience of different actors from the four member countries, whom I thank for all their effort and the time dedicated to this initiative”.

He also reflected on the importance of implementing this type of initiative, and that hopefully this is the first step of many, “since with interventions as relevant as this one, and I say relevant because it seeks to favor and support men and women engaged in artisanal fishing and aquaculture, strengthening their productive and commercial skills and generating new capacities, which results in the generation of higher income and, of course, positive effects on their living conditions,” he said.
Julio Jorquera Guerrero, technical manager and member of the International Affairs Unit of Chile’s Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Subpesca, said that the value of this project was to bring together virtually men and women from the four PA countries who live around artisanal fishing and aquaculture.

“During the course of the execution, common gaps became evident, among them, low digitalization and connectivity, as well as associativity. The interest of users in exporting, as well as in training in food safety and marketing, was also evident. It is these sectoral needs that set the tone for what we must continue to work on as PA,” he said.

The Subpesca professional also noted that “it is important to give value to the products developed in this project, such as the Women’s Network booklet, the strategy to increase consumption and the COVID learning process. These documents provide guidelines to the four countries (public and private entities), as well as to the GTPA, on how to strengthen the marketing and consumption of the products.

Sandra Ferrada Fuentes, a researcher at the Universidad de Concepción, Chile, and coordinator of the executing team, said that it was a challenging task in which “networking and international collaboration were essential. We exchanged knowledge and experiences with the GTPA focal points, which allowed us to have a great representativeness and geographical coverage, broadening our perspective and approach”.

Finally, she thanked all the representatives for their willingness and commented that, although the challenges faced by artisanal fisheries and aquaculture are many and complex, “they require the collaboration of governments, industry, local communities and international organizations to find sustainable solutions. The joint work of the Pacific Alliance’s GTPA is a step in the right direction to address them effectively”.

All the material generated during the implementation of the initiative, such as informative documents, webinars, videos of the member countries, will be available on the PA website, specifically in the section corresponding to the Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Group.

The initiative was financed by the Pacific Alliance Cooperation Fund. For its materialization, a resource transfer agreement for USD 105,900 was signed between the Chilean Agency for International Cooperation and the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Government of Chile, the latter being responsible for the execution of the project, through the Universidad de Concepción de Chile and the Future of Fish Foundation.

Review the final meeting of the initiative “Results dissemination workshop”.

The annual meeting between the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) and the National Coordinators of the Pacific Alliance was held on 31 October 2023 in hybrid format to give continuity to the activities of the 2021-2025 Work Plan, as well as to reaffirm the ties of cooperation and friendship between the two regional blocs.

The Meeting exchanged views on developments in both regions, reviewed the implementation of the ASEAN-Pacific Alliance Work Plan (2021-2025) and discussed ways to further promote cooperation between ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance, with emphasis on Gender Equality; Student Mobility; Digital Economy; Environment; Culture; and Education.

Both sides highlighted the importance of promoting bi-regional work, making their achievements visible. At the Meeting, the Pacific Alliance presented four proposals with regard to joint activities on gender mainstreaming, sustainable management of plastic waste, student and academic exchanges, and cultural exchanges. To institutionalise the engagement between the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN and the National Coordinators of the Pacific Alliance, the Meeting agreed to revise the ASEAN-Pacific Alliance Framework for Cooperation and to subsequently submit it to the ASEAN-Pacific Alliance Ministerial Meeting for adoption. They also looked forward to resuming the Ministerial Meetings between ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance in 2024 and onwards.

The Meeting was attended by members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN, National Coordinators of the Pacific Alliance, with physical attendance of the Ambassador and representatives from the Embassies of Pacific Alliance Member Countries in Jakarta, as well as the representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, and Timor-Leste as an observer.

The Pacific Alliance Youth Volunteering Program – 2023 Edition has been successfully completed!

The Technical Group for Cooperation of the Pacific Alliance and the youth/volunteerism instances of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru are grateful for the enthusiasm and commitment of all the young people participating in the projects of the aforementioned mentioned Program, which reactivated the face-to-face execution of its activities.

If you are interested in community work and regional integration of youth:

Participate in the 2024 edition that we are preparing for you!

Thank you very much!

October 18, 2023.- The High Level Group (GAN) of the Pacific Alliance (PA), which brings together deputy ministers of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, as well as their representatives, from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, met on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 in Lima.

The high authorities reviewed the status of the processes with the candidates for Associate States and the accession of new full members of the integration mechanism.

The GAN also reviewed the preparations for the following events: (i) II Meeting of PA Exporting SME, to be held on November 9 in Lima with a view to benefiting MSMEs of the four countries; (ii) V PA Cooperation Forum with Observer States, and (iii) the next meeting of PA National Coordinators with the Permanent Representatives Committee of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ANSEA), to advance joint activities and exchanges on topics of common interest.

The authorities also received representatives of the Pacific Alliance Business Council (CEAP), made up of the private sector of the four countries, to learn about their initiatives and recommendations. Representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a strategic partner of the PA, also attended the virtual meeting to follow up on the valuable technical-financial support of this institution in the development of topics such as innovation, environment, gender, among others.

The meeting was attended by Ignacio Higueras, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Teresa Mera, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, for Peru, which currently holds the pro tempore presidency of the mechanism; for Chile, Marcela Otero, Director General for Multilateral Economic Affairs, representing the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations, Claudia Sanhueza; for Colombia, Luis Felipe Quintero, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, and Ambassador Javier Higuera, Director of Regional Coordination and Integration Mechanisms, on behalf of the Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs, Elizabeth Taylor Jay, and for Mexico, Vicente Peredo, head of the International Trade Negotiations Unit of the Ministry of Economy, and Gerardo Serrano, director for Regional Integration in Latin
America and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

VIII Pacific Alliance Youth Meeting

In the morning, the GAN authorities attended the inauguration of the “VIII Pacific Alliance Youth Meeting”, an event organized by Nestlé, which brings together young people from the PA, together with the private sector, the public sector and academia, in order to promote youth employability in the region. The meeting was attended by young people from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru representing the PA countries, and from Ecuador and Costa Rica as special guests.

It should be noted that at the end of September, the International Job Fair was also held virtually, where 102 companies offered 4,500 job opportunities.

October 17, 2023.- The National Coordinators of the Pacific Alliance (PA), a regional integration mechanism made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, met today in Lima.

During the meeting, the National Coordinators addressed issues related to the accession processes of new candidates to become Member States, as well as the guidelines for the development of cooperation initiatives between the Pacific Alliance and third States.

Among other topics, the high authorities followed up on the current status of the Joint Declarations of cooperation between the Pacific Alliance and observer States, regional blocs and other allied instances of the mechanism and reviewed the work agenda of the next meeting with the Permanent Representatives Committee of ASEAN, as well as the preparatory activities for the II Meeting of the Pacific Alliance Exporting SME and the V PA Cooperation Forum with Observer States.

The meeting was led by Peru, current pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance, with the participation of the National Coordinating Bodies of the countries that make up this integration mechanism.

October 10, 2023.- On September 26 and 27, the Pacific Alliance, through the Subcommittee on Digital Economy (SCED), held the “Workshop on Business Digital Security and private transactions”, in the framework of the implementation of the Regional Digital Market Roadmap.

Both sessions were attended by national speakers from member countries and experts from international organizations, who addressed highly relevant topics, such as governance models for national authorities in the protection of digital security, cross-border transfers of corporate databases, the design of corporate digital security policies, the use of cloud services, and the use of digital certification, among others.

Peter Stephens, policy advisor at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, presented the OECD’s recommendations on digital security, which mainly seek to promote a culture of risk management within organizations, securing business activities and considering the citizen. He also stressed that all organizations need to be aware of the importance of digital security vulnerabilities and take a strategic approach to assess and address risk on an ongoing basis.

Marushka Chocobar, former Secretary of Government and Digital Transformation of Peru, commented on the governance models for corporate digital security in the region. She also highlighted the protocols that must be applied at national level in the event of cyber-attacks on companies, which, as she explains, can request support from the State if necessary.

Also, Heidy Balanta, data protection expert from Colombia, commented on the regulatory aspects of personal data transfers in PA countries and the challenges faced by Latin American companies when making these transfers. In addition, she pointed out that at the Pacific Alliance level, Colombia, Mexico and Peru have made significant progress; however, it is important that these countries are aligned with the new international standard. In the case of Chile, they will have to work on updating their regulations, which Heidy said will have robust data protection features.

Ariel Nowerszrtern of the Inter-American Development Bank presented an overview of corporate digital security, noting that 73% of Latin American companies ranked cyber risk as one of their top five concerns, only 29% have cyber insurance and 75% have not implemented any type of control. This reflects that, in Latin America, although there is awareness of the risk, few concrete actions are currently being taken to strengthen digital security.

CYBER READINESS IN LATAM COMPANIES
SOURCE: 10. SURVEY OF CYBER RISK PERCEPTION IN LATIN AMERICA 2019. MICROSOFT AND MARSH (2019).
11. GRUPO RADAR AND DATASEC URUGUAY (2021).

On the second day, Henry Pallavicini from Chiletec and Sergio Hernandez from Amazon Web Services participated from a private sector perspective, commenting on the importance of the Pacific Alliance countries to advance in the development of the legal framework to promote digital security and the adoption of international standards and certifications by companies.

Likewise, Pedro Castilla from the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property and Julio Mamani from the Ministry of Production, representatives of the Peruvian public sector, presented the use of digital certification for business development and how promoting its use would be beneficial for consumer confidence. It was also highlighted that the strengthening of digital security is important to be part of the state policy, which considers digital security as a relevant element for the proper functioning of companies.

In addition, it was concluded that it is important to deepen the public-private dialogue for the design of digital security strategies that allow companies to be better prepared for the current digital security challenges.

Therefore, we invite you to review the recordings of the 2 sessions of the Workshop, which you will find below:
Day 1: https://youtu.be/KUuGmLnQ-ew
Day 2: https://youtu.be/nOUV_LTX_9E

October 3, 2023.- With the participation of representatives from the countries of the Pacific Alliance, and guests from MERCOSUR, was held in Santiago, Chile, the International Seminar on occupational psychosocial risks: “Towards mental well-being at work”, with the aim of highlighting the participatory management of occupational psychosocial risks as a possible and desirable goal in the countries of the Pacific Alliance.

The Pacific Alliance, through the Declarations of Cali in 2017, Puerto Vallarta in 2018 and Santiago de Chile in 2020, issued a mandate that, in labor matters, originated the project called “Design of a policy for the management of psychosocial factors and promotion of mental health at work in member countries of the Pacific Alliance and guest countries of MERCOSUR.

This project has three stages, the first of which consisted of carrying out a diagnosis of the situation of psychosocial risks at work in the countries participating in the project, followed by a series of workshops by experts on the subject who debated on a proposal for guidelines for a policy for the management of psychosocial factors at work. This stage concluded with a document issued in January 2023 that contains both the diagnosis and the indicated guidelines.

The second stage, currently in process, consists of the design and execution of a communication campaign aimed at workers and employers, which raises awareness and stimulates the participatory management of these risks and the promotion of mental health at work.

Finally, the holding of this seminar represents the third stage, the occasion in which the report on the management of occupational psychosocial risk factors and promotion of mental health in the workplaces of the countries of the Pacific Alliance was presented and announced the current status of the communication campaign.

September 22, 2023.- On September 20, with the participation of nearly 30 technicians from the region, the Technical Subgroup on Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (SGT-MRV) of the Pacific Alliance, with the support of the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) and the Institute of the Americas, held the first of two virtual sessions on ‘Sustainable taxonomies: a key tool to strengthen monitoring, reporting and verification of climate finance’.

The objective of the session was to introduce and discuss the concept of sustainable taxonomies, present an overview of the state of development and implementation of taxonomies in the world and especially in Pacific Alliance countries, and discuss how these taxonomies can guide investments and transparency in line with the Paris Agreement. Some key messages were:

• Sustainable taxonomies promote a common language in sustainable investments, aligning public and private actors on the type of actions to finance to meet the commitments of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

• The global taxonomy landscape indicates that the movement towards sustainable finance investment and capital mobilization has led to an increase in green taxonomies around the world. Jurisdictions in Western Europe, Asia and the Pacific have made progress over the past three years in developing policy and technical aspects working towards a transparent reporting architecture for sustainable finance.

• Although globally most taxonomies remain voluntary, there are exceptions such as China, the European Union and Malaysia. These are mandatory taxonomies in verification reporting. In the Pacific Alliance, Mexico is interested in making a taxonomy mandatory after the current piloting stage.

The report summarizing this first session (in Spanish), together with the recording and the exhibited presentations, can be found at the following link: https://alianzapacifico.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Relatoria-sesion-1-CdP-Taxonomias.pdf

September 6, 2023.- The High-Level Group (GAN) of the Pacific Alliance (PA), which brings together Vice Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and their representatives from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, met last Friday, September 1, 2023, in Lima.

The high authorities and representatives addressed the status of negotiations with the candidates for Associated State and the accession of new full members of the integration mechanism.

The GAN also reviewed the preparations for the X PA Investment Forum in New York; the VIII PA Youth Meeting, organized jointly with Nestlé, on October 18 in Lima; and the II PA Exporting SME Meeting, on November 9 in Lima.

The authorities received representatives of the Pacific Alliance Business Council (CEAP), made up of the private sector of the four countries, to learn about their initiatives and recommendations, as well as representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a strategic partner of the PA, to follow up on the valuable technical-financial support of this institution in the development of topics such as innovation, environment, gender, etc.

The meeting was attended by Ignacio Higueras, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Teresa Mera, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, representing Peru, the current pro tempore presidency of the mechanism; Claudia Sanhueza, Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, representing Chile; Luis Felipe Quintero, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, and Javier Higuera, Director of Regional Concertation and Integration Mechanisms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representing Colombia; and for Mexico, Efraín Guadarrama, General director of American Regional Organizations and Mechanisms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Vicente Peredo, Head of the International Trade Negotiations Unit of the Ministry of Economy.

• The meeting, which took place in Santiago, brought together the main sectoral authorities from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, as well as professionals from other Latin American countries.

September 5, 2023.- To generate a strategy to attract tourism investments for the member countries of the Pacific Alliance, strengthen coordination and generate implementation mechanisms, encouraging development, growth and consolidating the post-pandemic economic recovery. These were the main objectives of the meeting held in Santiago, which brought together the main sectoral authorities of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and representatives of other Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

The meeting also addressed the work carried out in identifying the enabling conditions to generate the strategy for attracting tourism investment; determining the investment vectors, identifying investment opportunities in each country; generating tools to disseminate the support lines of each of the countries to facilitate investment and formalizing the sustainability mechanism of the strategy, establishing a Pacific Alliance Tourism Investment Committee and drawing up a biannual action plan.

During the meeting, authorities and participants attended the presentation “Green Investments for Sustainable Tourism”, as well as panels on regional integration as a mechanism to strengthen the attraction of tourism investments and the promotion of tourism investments as an instrument to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. They also received a message from Gustavo Santos, regional director for the Americas of the World Tourism Organization, who addressed the importance of promoting green investments, precisely the central motto of World Tourism Day to be celebrated on September 27.

In this context, the working spaces emphasized the importance of promoting cooperation and encouraging the implementation of sustainable investment schemes to attract tourism investments in the Pacific Alliance countries, in a scenario of reactivation of the industry, and also highlighted the need to generate enabling and facilitating conditions to promote a pro-investment ecosystem in the Pacific Alliance countries, benefiting potential investors and entrepreneurs interested in investing in tourism, and positioning the Pacific Alliance countries as destinations for investment in tourism, facilitating the opening of new businesses in the sector, the improvement of the existing offer and job creation.

The first investment attraction seminar was part of the implementation of the project financed by the Pacific Alliance Cooperation Fund called “Boosting the attraction of tourism investments for the sustainable reactivation of the Pacific Alliance countries”.