Alianza del Pacífico (octubre 14/16). After finishing a round of meetings of more than 10 technical groups of the Pacific Alliance (PA) that took place this week in the city of Santiago, today gathered the High Level Group, formed by the vice-ministers of Commerce and Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and the general director of International Economic Affairs of the Foreign Office, Andrés Rebolledo, who led the meeting on behalf of Chile’s pro tempore presidency of the PA.

“This is the first meeting of vice-ministers after the Puerto Varas Summit. We were greatly impressed by the advances reported by each of the technical groups involving the presidential mandates set forth last July. After listening to their reports, we established an action plan for the next High Level Group meeting in Colombia by the end of this year in order to continue strengthening our integration mechanism”, said Andrés Rebolledo.

It is also worth mentioning the progress made on the coordination with the four countries’ business sectors, which is why the HLG received today representatives from the PA Business Council and the Swiss company Nestlé, along with the ambassador of Switzerland in Chile, all of which participate in developing an important cooperation program to foster youth employability within the member countries.

Another topic of relevance is the current work being done to close ties between the Pacific Alliance and ASEAN, where the agreement made between both integration blocs last September in New York as part of the UN General Assembly, is paramount.

Significant progress

Part of the review of the work of the technical groups performed by the vice-ministers of the HLG includes the level of progress on Regulatory Cooperation for pharmaceuticals and food supplements. This time the Regulatory Cooperation Group also met with representatives from the private sector of those sectors from the four countries that took part in the “Adjoining Room” (Cuarto Adjunto) exercise.

One of the groups that reported important progress is the People Mobility Group, who noted the definitive start of the exemption for visas to permanent residents of third markets when visiting member countries of the Pacific Alliance; the consulates cooperation project; and the agreements of the Vacation & Work program.

The vice-ministers of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of the member countries of the Pacific Alliance (PA), began today, at Hotel Patagonico in Puerto Varas, Chile, the XXXVI meeting of the High Level Group (GAN) of the integration body.

During this event, government officials fine-tuned details of the XI Summit of the Pacific Alliance, which will take place in that city of Los Lagos Region, on Friday, July 1.

This was essentially a working session aimed at reviewing details of the important events that will take place during this week: the meeting of the PA Council of Ministers, the meeting with the Observer States and the Summit of Heads of State of the Pacific Alliance.

Furthermore, the vice-ministers reviewed the schedule of activities to be carried out during the pro tempore Presidency of the Pacific Alliance that Peru will hand over to Chile after the XI PA Summit, which will include meetings with MERCOSUR, ASEAN and APEC; as well as the rotation of the coordination of the various technical working groups in the coming period.

International Press Center

At the same time, the authorities of the Pacific Alliance today visited the International Press Center that will operate during the entire Summit at Hotel Bellavista, which will have the capacity to accommodate some 200 local and international media professionals accredited to cover the XI Summit of the PA and its related meetings.

During this visit, it was announced that the four Heads of State of the member countries of the Pacific Alliance, the President of Argentina, the President of Costa Rica and the President-elect of Peru, over 40 ministers and vice-ministers, 280 representatives from observer countries, 715 business people and 170 journalists will be present at the Summit, which is a very important fact for the Pacific Alliance’s image.

The center, which will run from 10:00 to 19:00 hours, has Internet service through high-speed Wi-Fi and 120 workstations with Internet access and printers. The area will also have transmission and delivery of the official signal, spaces for interviews, documentation service with press releases and a rest area, and catering.

Puerto Varas, June 28, 2016

November 6, 2020. In preparation for the Summit of Presidents to be held in December, the High Level Group (GAN, by its acronym in Spanish) of the Pacific Alliance met virtually today, composed of the Vice Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

The meeting was headed by the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations of Chile, Rodrigo Yáñez -country that holds the pro tempore presidency of the bloc-, and had the participation of Adriana Mejía, Vice-Minister of Multilateral Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Laura Valdivieso, Vice-Minister of Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, on behalf of Colombia; from Mexico, Maximiliano Reyes, Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Luz María De la Mora, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economy; and on behalf of Peru, Manuel Talavera, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Diego Llosa, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism.

Among the topics reviewed during the meeting by the vice-ministers was the progress of the presidential mandates in the different areas of the Alliance. This year, the bloc has focused its efforts on advancing in the regional digital market, on implementing actions that help mitigate the effects of the pandemic and on advancing in areas that allow for more inclusive policies, incorporating instruments that promote the economic empowerment of women and the internationalization of companies led by women. Thus, the Vice-Ministers were informed of the work being done by the Working Groups and held a dialogue with representatives of ECLAC, the Business Council of the Pacific Alliance and the Council of Finance Ministers of PA.

In terms of cooperation, the GAN highlighted the virtual holding of the II Pacific Alliance International Cooperation Forum, where the 59 observer states of the Alliance will participate and will be developed by geographical area, between November 10 and 25.

Finally, Undersecretary Yáñez announced the preparations that are being made for the XV Summit of Presidents to be held in Santiago on December 11. In addition, at the end of this event, Chile will transfer the pro tempore presidency to Colombia.

PACIFIC ALLIANCE PPT COMMUNICATIONS

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.