The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and the presidents of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos; of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto; and of Peru, Ollanta Humala, today brought to a close the Third Business Summit of the Pacific Alliance (PA), “Vision into the Future” in Frutillar, Los Lagos region, Chile.
In her introductory remarks, President Bachelet stressed the importance of strengthening innovation in the PA and the role that investment in young people’s education should have, in order to meet this challenge. In this regard she mentioned that Chile has developed policies to achieve a productive transformation.
For his part, President Santos highlighted the importance of the creation of the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA) as part of the efforts to broaden and deepen capital markets among the four countries. In that regard, he underlined the fact that, for the PA, to boost its digital integration is today a necessity.
In his speech, President Peña Nieto mentioned the priority that must be given to trade integration. He noted that it is necessary to publicize the value of this regional integration initiative, which to date has attracted the attention of 49 observer countries, as well as provided benefits for the people.
Meanwhile, President Humala emphasized the need to invest in education, noting that Peru has been promoting a firm policy to achieve a high-quality school education. He also indicated that education is a key point in the cooperation program of the Pacific Alliance.
Finally, the Presidents agreed that the creation of the Venture Capital Fund and the progress toward the internationalization of SMEs, will allow a better projection of the PA to other regions. Similarly, they stressed that the PA is one of the most attention-grabbing business initiatives in the world.
Business summit development
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile and the President of the Business Council of the Pacific Alliance (CEAP), Chilean chapter, conducted the opening of the event.
Later, the Foreign Minister of Chile, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, the Secretary of Economy of Mexico, and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru participated in the first panel of the morning.
Throughout the day, interventions by the Presidents of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, and of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, as well as by the President-elect of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski were made. Similarly, the ministers of finance of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru participated in a panel on financial integration and its challenges.
In the afternoon, participants were able to attend four panels that were held in parallel on the business opportunities for SMEs, entrepreneurship and innovation, trade facilitation and financial integration.
The III Business Summit of the Pacific Alliance (PA) attracted over 700 attendees, including top executives of companies and SMEs, and took place days after the IV Business Matchmaking event held in Santiago, which generated nearly USD 200 million in business prospects.
Frutillar, June 30, 2016
