PACIFIC ALLIANCE MEETINGS IN SANTIAGO, CHILE: THE 15TH OF THE HIGH LEVEL GROUP AND THE 10TH ROUND FOR THE TECHNICAL GROUPS

• The Deputy Ministers of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru met to discuss the progress made by the Pacific Alliance.

The Undersecretaries and Deputy Ministers of Foreign Trade and Foreign Affairs of Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico held the 15th meeting of the High Level Group of the Pacific Alliance from May 8 – 10 in Santiago, Chile. For Mexico, the meeting was chaired by the Foreign Ministry’s Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vanessa Rubio Márquez, and The Economy Ministry’s Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, Francisco de Rosenzweig.

The officials assessed the progress made by the Pacific Alliance in complying with the Presidential mandates issued at the sixth Summit, held on January 27th in Santiago, Chile. They also finalized the progress reports for the Presidents and reviewed aspects of the 7th Summit that will take place on May 23rd in Cali, Colombia.

The parties also reviewed the progress made by the groups, technical subgroups and expert committees during the tenth round of negotiations, held form May 6 – 10, on tariff liberalization, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, regulatory improvements, intellectual property, government procurement, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, services and capital, movement of people, cooperation, institutional affairs and the Alliance’s communications strategy.

The Pacific Alliance is a regional integration initiative made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. It was created on April 28, 2011 as a platform for economic and trade integration; to move progressively towards the free movement of goods, services, capital and people; and to strengthen the group’s role in the world, with particular emphasis on the Asia Pacific.

The countries of the Pacific Alliance, taken together, are the 10th-largest economy at the global level and its 7th-largest exporter. The Pacific Alliance represents 35% of the total GDP in Latin America and 50% of total trade in the region.