Los Viceministros de Relaciones Exteriores y de Comercio Exterior de Chile, Colombia, México y Perú, quienes conforman el Grupo de Alto Nivel (GAN) de la Alianza del Pacífico (AP), se reunieron en Santiago, Chile, a fin de evaluar temas estratégicos de este mecanismo de integración.

El GAN, en su primera reunión después de la Xlll Cumbre de la AP, llevada a cabo en Puerto Vallarta el pasado mes de julio, evaluó los pasos a seguir para lograr el cumplimiento de la Visión Estratégica 2030, aprobada por los Jefes de Estado de los cuatro países en dicha ocasión, y analizó el estado de las negociaciones con los candidatos a Estado Asociado.

En ese marco, el GAN recibió al Viceministro de Comercio ecuatoriano, Diego Caicedo, a fin de iniciar el proceso de análisis conjunto con miras a ser considerado como candidato a Estado Asociado de este mecanismo de integración regional.

Adicionalmente, recibió a representantes del Consejo Empresarial AP (CEAP), integrado por los sectores privados de Chile, Colombia, México y Perú, con el objetivo de anunciar futuras áreas de trabajo de tal manera que sean oportunamente consideradas en los trabajos de la Alianza del Pacífico.

Por otro lado, el GAN dialogó sobre la implementación de un Consejo de Cooperación, el cual estará integrado por las agencias de cooperación de los cuatro países y cuyo fin será materializar iniciativas concretas de colaboración con los Estados Observadores.

Asimismo, afinó los detalles de la Reunión de Ministros AP-ASEAN y de la participación de los mandatarios de Chile, Colombia, México y Perú en la Cumbre de Negocios e Inversiones de la AP, eventos que tendrán lugar en septiembre próximo en Nueva York, en el marco de la 73 Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas.

Para concluir, el GAN recibió al Observatorio Estratégico de la AP, conformado por la Universidad de los Andes de Colombia, la Universidad del Pacífico del Perú, el Tec de Monterrey de México y la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, para conversar sobre las contribuciones de la academia al mecanismo.

Previamente, los Coordinadores Nacionales de los cuatro países analizaron las solicitudes presentadas por los Grupos Tecnicos (GT), y abordaron los resultados centrales alcanzados por estos últimos en sus sesiones de trabajo.

Los GT que se reunieron en esta oportunidad fueron: Relacionamiento Externo, Cooperación Regulatoria, Comité de Expertos del Consejo Empresarial de la Alianza del Pacífico (CE-CEAP), Asuntos Institucionales, Facilitación del Comercio, Agenda Digital, Servicios y Capitales, Compras Públicas, Encadenamientos Productivos y Cooperación, el cual sesionó con miras a diseñar el plan de trabajo para la Creación del Consejo de Cooperación de la AP, a cargo de las agencias de cooperación de los cuatro países.

Cabe señalar que, de manera paralela, el Comité Directivo del proyecto “Competencias para el empleo en el sector extractivo de la Alianza del Pacífico” (CICan), conformado por el Grupo de Relacionamiento Externo y Canadá, este último Estado Observador de la AP, se reunió a fin de revisar los avances en torno a su implementación en Chile, Colombia, México y Perú.

La Alianza del Pacífico es una iniciativa de integración regional conformada por Chile, Colombia, México y Perú, creada oficialmente el 28 de abril de 2011. Los países del mecanismo representan la octava economía mundial.

Con la presencia de los Embajadores de Chile, Gustavo Ayares, y de México, Armando Álvarez; así como de los Encargados de Negocios de Colombia, Nelsy Munar, y del Perú, Carlos del Castillo, acreditados en Indonesia, se realizó en Yakarta el evento de clausura de la primera edición del Curso de Español para Diplomáticos de la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático (ASEAN) ofrecido por la Alianza del Pacífico (AP), como parte del Plan de Trabajo 2017-2019 vigente entre ambos mecanismos.

Durante tres meses, 43 diplomáticos y oficiales de los países miembros de ASEAN, así como de su Secretaría, participaron de este intensivo curso, que  complementaron con actividades de cocina y cine en español.

Por un acuerdo entre los países de la Alianza del Pacífico, la primera edición del curso estuvo liderada por el Gobierno de Colombia, el cual seleccionó a la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana de Medellín a fin de garantizar la excelencia del programa.

Durante el acto de clausura, se entregó certificados de asistencia a los estudiantes y se anunció al ganador de un viaje de intercambio cultural a Colombia, por iniciativa de la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. Finalizado el evento, los asistentes disfrutaron de platillos y bebidas típicas de los países de la Alianza del Pacífico y de una canción en idioma español a cargo de los beneficiarios del programa.

Adicionalmente, se recordó a los asistentes que los interesados en continuar con el aprendizaje del idioma español en el marco de la cooperación Alianza del Pacífico – ASEAN pueden hacerlo a través de las becas anuales para diplomáticos de ASEAN que ofrece la academia diplomática mexicana.

Cabe señalar que la implementación de esta exitosa iniciativa tiene como objetivo fortalecer el contacto persona a persona, así como fomentar el entendimiento mutuo, el diálogo político y la cooperación entre ambas regiones.

Desde el 2016, la AP y ASEAN acordaron desarrollar acciones concretas en cuatro áreas prioritarias  de interés común: cooperación económica; educación y contacto persona a persona; ciencia, tecnología e innovación; y, desarrollo sostenible.

Fundada en 1967, la ASEAN incluye a Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malasia, Myanmar, Laos, Singapur, Tailandia, Filipinas y Vietnam. La economía de ese bloque es considerada la tercera mayor de Asia y la sexta en el mundo, con un PIB de alrededor de 3 billones de dólares. Por su parte, la Alianza del Pacífico representa la octava a nivel mundial, cuyo PIB acumulado representa el 40% del de América Latina y el Caribe.

The Pacific Alliance’s Council of Ministers met today at Paracas, Perú.

Firstly, the Ministers reviewed the progress of the X Summit agreements. They then approved the Project of the Paracas’ Declaration, which will be submitted for consideration by presidents Michelle Bachelet, from Chile; Juan Manuel Santos, from Colombia; Enrique Peña Nieto, from México, and Ollanta Humala, from Perú.

Mexico’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Antonio Meade, whose country will transfer the Pro Tempore Presidency of the mechanism to Peru, made a presentation on the progress that the mechanism has achieved in the linking process with the observers and third countries. Mr Meade highlighted the cooperation projects with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).

The Ministers received, separately, the representatives from Costa Rica and New Zealand, in order to discuss about several cooperation projects between the Pacific Alliance and those countries.

Within the framework of the Council of Ministers, the cooperation framework agreement for financial support for companies from to the Pacific Alliance member countries was signed. This agreement will help to increase business and promote commercial exchange and investment between  the parties, particularly the SMEs related with the export sector.

The Pacific Alliance is a regional integration process formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru on April 28th, 2011. It brings together 217 millions of people, with a USD $ 2.1 billion GDP that represents 38% of the GDP of Latin America and the Caribbean.  The four member countries of this alliance concentrate 52% of Latin America and the Caribbean’s extra regional

The Ministers of the Pacific Alliance that attended the meeting were: t>he Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Muñoz, and the Viceminister of Foreign Trade, Andrés Rebolledo, from Chile: the Minister of Foreign Trade, Industry and Tourism, Cecilia Álvarez-Correa, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, María Ángela Holguín, from Colombia; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Antonio Meade, and the Minister of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo, from Mexico; the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ana María Sánchez, from Peru.

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

During the meeting, the ministers adopted the Roadmap to implement the Presidential Declaration on Sustainable Management of Plastics.

December 10, 2020 – The last meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Pacific Alliance, composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, was held in a semi-presential format, in preparation for the XV Summit of Heads of State to be held this Friday, December 11, at the Palacio de la Moneda.

The meeting, which was headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Andrés Allamand, was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Claudia Blum, and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, José Manuel Restrepo, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Elizabeth Astete. Via telematics were the Minister of Foreign Trade of Peru, Claudia Cornejo; and for Mexico, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, and Secretary of Economy, Graciela Márquez.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Andres Allamand highlighted that “we are pleased to present the year and a half of the pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance with great achievements, despite the contingencies we have faced with the global health crisis. Among these, the strategy to have a regional digital market, the insertion of women in the economy, the development of a more sustainable common space and a joint work plan that seeks to mitigate the adverse effects of the health crisis stand out. In addition, with an improvement in management according to the times we are living that brings benefits to our citizens”.

During the session, the Council of Ministers adopted the Roadmap towards a Sustainable Management of Plastics, which aims to implement the Presidential Declaration signed at the XIV Lima Summit, where it is agreed to work in eight areas of action: Regulation, good practices and public policies; Innovation, research and business transformation; Plastic waste management and recycling; Circular economy; Financing; Education, information and citizen transformation; Commerce; and International cooperation.

The Council also received the report on the work developed by the High Level Group (GAN, by its acronym in Spanish), highlighting the Declarations and roadmaps that will be signed at the Summit of Presidents regarding the Regional Digital Market and Gender Equality. The authorities also addressed the report on the Additional Protocol, the decisions adopted by the Free Trade Commission and Regulatory Annexes, among other matters.

During the meeting, information was also given on the holding of the II Cooperation Forum PA, where representatives of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru met with 226 delegates from 49 countries, representatives of the Observer States of the PA, the European Union, the Eurasian Economic Community (EEC) and ASEAN. Among the most important areas for exploring possible joint cooperation projects are global value chains, education, gender, environment, digital agenda, disaster management and artificial intelligence, among others.

The ministers also approved the Work Plan of the Cooperation Fund for 2021 for one million dollars, the same amount executed in 2020, and which benefited projects related to the support of citizens in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. The plan for next year, which will be focused on reducing social and educational gaps and moving towards economic reactivation, includes: a Youth Volunteer Program of the Pacific Alliance; workshops for the Management of Psychosocial Factors and Promotion of Mental Health at Work; and a Workshop for the formulation of the Disaster Risk Management Project.

The authorities additionally received the report of the Finance Ministers of the PA and the report of the V Pacific Alliance Youth Meeting. This event actively convened nearly 25,000 young people from the four countries.

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