The handover ceremony was led by Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren and the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, Claudia Sanhueza; in addition to ministers and authorities from Colombia -which will assume the Presidency in 2025-, Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica and Uruguay.
During Chile’s Pro Tempore Presidency, substantive progress was made for the entry of Costa Rica, the Youth Technical Group was created and emphasis was placed on MSMEs and the Regional Digital Market, among others.
December 13, 2024.- Today Chile formally handed over the Pro Tempore Presidency of the Pacific Alliance to Colombia, in an official ceremony held in Santiago.
The ceremony was attended by Chile’s Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren and the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, Claudia Sanhueza; Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Gilberto Murillo, and the Colombian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Luis Reyes Hernández; for Mexico, the Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Raquel Serur, and the head of the International Trade Negotiations Unit of the Mexican Ministry of Economy, Victor Aguilar; and for Peru, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elmer Schialer, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Teresa Mera. Also participating as special guests were the Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, Manuel Tovar, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Omar Paganini.
During the meeting of the PA Council of Ministers, which was held prior to the ceremony, the authorities formally accepted Costa Rica’s application as a Candidate for Accession to the Pacific Alliance Framework Agreement. In this way, during 2025 the Protocol of Accession will be drawn up to finalize the entry of this country as a full member of the bloc.
The authorities also approved the creation of the Youth Technical Group, whose objective is to contribute to the recognition and empowerment of the youth of the Pacific Alliance States. In addition, the Public-Private Roadmap for the Development of MSMEs and Entrepreneurship in the Pacific Alliance was approved, which will make it possible to establish and measure the progress of common policies in the countries of the bloc to take advantage of smaller companies as a force for regional integration, productive transformation and inclusive productivity growth. Along the same lines, the Roadmap for the Regional Digital Market of the Pacific Alliance was updated, a strategy that seeks to enable the free flow of digital products, goods and services that are marketed through the Internet, and capital linked to the digital market between member countries, with a focus on MSMEs.
Other important advances during the Pro Tempore Presidency Chile 2024 include: the first meeting of high-level authorities of Social Development where they committed to move towards the establishment of Resilient Social Protection Systems; the Second Ministerial Meeting for the Autonomy and Economic Empowerment of PA Women, and the adoption of the Declaration for Gender Parity; the preparation of a Digital Cultural Calendar with the cultural activities of the PA countries; the holding of the III Meeting of exporting MSMEs and Cooperatives, a space for dialogue and analysis focused on promotion, held within the framework of the PA Days, which also included two days dedicated to the Regional Digital Market, innovation and artificial intelligence; the XI Business Macro-Roundtable with 538 meetings, where 154 companies achieved commercial projections of approximately US$55 million; the XI LAB4+ Entrepreneurship and Innovation Forum, which brought together 157 companies, achieving business projections of almost US$11 million; the development of the communications strategy; development of a proposal for regulatory improvement in the sustainable management of plastics and the communication strategy “365 days with less plastic”; the exchange of experiences in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, among others.
During the days prior to the Council of Ministers, several meetings were held within the framework of Chile’s Pro Tempore Presidency, including the High Level Group and National Coordinators, as well as the Business Summit.
Communications PPT 2024 Pacific Alliance