Sustainable investment in CELAC countries

 

Commissioner De Gucht participated at the 1st EU-CELAC Summit which brought together European, Latin American and Caribbean Heads of State and Government in Santiago (Chile) on 26-27 January 2013. During the two-day meeting the leaders highlighted the scale and quality of EU investments in CELAC countries (43% of total FDI in the region), their significant contribution to the region's economic and social development, to economic diversification (away from over-reliance on raw materials) and to pursuing growth, while safeguarding the environment.

 On trade, the Summit Declaration emphasises the importance of open trade, eschews all forms of protectionism and reiterates support for the multilateral trading system. Moreover, the leaders highlighted the importance of the Multi-Party FTA with Peru and Colombia and the Association Agreement with Central America, and the need to make progress in the negotiations with MERCOSUR. 

 

EU Commissioner Karel De Gucht on the EU’s trade links with Latin America
 

"We need to look again at the trade agreement with Mexico. Given Mexico's ties to the two countries to its North, there should be a strong relationship between that effort and what Europe can achieve with Canada and the United States – hopefully soon. Similarly, we could also look at ways to modernise our 10-year old trade agreement with Chile. We also need to bring the negotiations with the Mercosur countries to a conclusion. Mercosur includes some of our most important economic partners on this continent so it is no secret that Europe would like to have made more progress in these talks by now."

 

 

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Date Posted

January 31 2013