President Piñera at 13th Pacific Alliance Summit: “We have had seven successful years of unity and we will continue to promote progress to benefit all Chileans”
President Piñera traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Monday to participate in the 13th Pacific Alliance Summit, during which he will meet with the Presidents of Peru, Brazil and Mexico.
President of Chile Sebastián Piñera spoke about his participation in the 13th Pacific Alliance Summit in the city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where the preparation of a strategic plan for the bloc’s development through 2030 will be discussed.
“During its seven-year history, the Pacific Alliance has been quite productive and has achieved great success. As a result of this, 55 countries around the world are currently observers. But there is no question that times change and that the Pacific Alliance must renew itself,” said President Piñera.
The President outlined a number of proposals that will be discussed at the summit, such as accelerating the process of reducing tariffs from 92% to 100% in order to create a Free Trade Zone with a more modern structure.
Secondly, the President proposed strengthening new Alliance objectives such as e-commerce, the digital agenda, government modernization, and the full incorporation of small- and medium-sized businesses.
The President also called for “modernizing” the bloc’s institutional structure.
He also said that countries that wish to become strategic partners as associate countries of the bloc should be allowed to do so.
Lastly, President Piñera called for expedited “convergence” between the Pacific Alliance and Mercosur in order to create free trade agreements between the countries of both entities, which would mean that over 90% of Latin America would be part of one large free trade agreement.
“This is the strategic vision that we have as Pacific Alliance countries, and it is aligned with our great mission of transforming Chile into a developed country over the next 12 years, that is, by the end of the next decade. We are working to end poverty and ensure that all of Chile’s citizens can develop their talents and live good lives,” stated President Piñera.
The Pacific Alliance is a regional integration initiative comprised of four member states: Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. It also has four associate state candidates (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore).
With a population of over 225 million and average per capita GDP of US$17,266, the bloc is the eighth largest economy in the world.
According to the General Directorate of International Economic Relations (DIRECON), trade between Chile and other Pacific Alliance member states grew by nearly 8% in 2017. This was mainly driven by imports totaling US$4.266 billion. Over five thousand Chilean companies imported products from Pacific Alliance members in 2017.