Events

MINSK, 23 June (BelTA) – At the Pacific Alliance Council of Ministers meeting in Mexico the ministers of foreign affairs and trade of Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico have approved the observer status in the organization for Serbia, the United Arab Emirates and Belarus, BelTA learned from the Belarusian embassy in Ecuador.

“An observer status for Belarus in the Pacific Alliance improves for our country the framework conditions to enhance cooperation, primarily in the economic sector, with the four member states of the integration association: Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile, as well as with Latin America in general,” the diplomatic mission said.

Among the states with the observer status in the Pacific Alliance is Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Georgia, Denmark, Egypt, Israel, India, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Canada, China, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, the United States, Turkey, Ukraine, France, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Ecuador, Japan.

This is the youngest sub-regional economic union in Latin America, whose members are united by the idea of ​​deep integration and the use of the geographic location of states on the Pacific coast and partly (Mexico and Colombia) of the Atlantic ocean.

The Pacific Alliance countries that implement the export model of a market economy strive to develop external relations in every possible way and to win the maximum number of markets for their goods. Deep integration is based on a similar economic policy and general legislative base. All countries are linked by free trade agreements that facilitate trade and economic integration. They are also united by the free trade agreements with the United States, the EU and a number of other countries.

The Pacific Alliance is one of the largest trade and economic blocs in Latin America. The population of four member countries is 216 million people, with the total GDP of more than $2.2 trillion and the total foreign trade exceeding $1 trillion. The Alliance has prospects for further expansion. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore are already negotiating the associate status in the organization. Costa Rica is considering joining the alliance as a full member. In 2018, the Ecuadorian government expressed its interest in joining the association.