by guest contributor Dimitrios Machairidis
Greece becomes the 42nd Observer of the Pacific Alliance: “With a market of around 214 million people and with an average GDP per capita of 16,500 dollars, the Pacific Alliance is a suitable platform to encourage joint ventures, provide opportunities for foreign investments and is open to entrepreneurship and innovation in various areas” remarked Mr. Jorge Roman Morey, The Ambassador of Peru in Athens, in his welcoming speech in December as Greece became the 42nd Observer of the Pacific Alliance, which is a novel mechanism for an in-depth integration of Central and South America.
Established by the Declaration of Lima, signed by the Presidents of Peru, Chile, Colombia and Mexico in April 28th, 2011, the Pacific Alliance aims to strengthen the economic integration between its members and the cooperation with the rest of the world, creating new business and job opportunities, fostering technological innovation processes and improving production standards. “It is based on four pillars – free circulation of goods, services, capitals and people and cooperation as well,” remarked the Ambassador of Peru Mr. Jorge Roman Morey. Peru chairs – at present – the rotating presidency of the Pacific Alliance, which will be taken over by Chile in June 2016, during its 11th Summit.
Apart from Pacific, this Alliance is very productive as well. In less than five years, 42 states were granted the status of Observer including 15 countries from the European Union, also Canada, China and the United States. In February 2014, Costa Rica began the process of joining the Alliance, followed by Panama. Furthermore, in Istanbul, Turkey, and in Casablanca, Morocco (both, Turkey and Morocco, are Observers) there are joint commercial offices of the 4 countries of the Alliance. The four member cooperation is getting even more integrated as the four countries now share the same building for their embassies in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
“In a limited time frame, the Pacific Alliance has accomplished a lot, having convened six presidential summits, each one of them providing specific statements and detailed timelines to advance agreed-upon goals. Furthermore, as the Pacific Alliance will evolve into a free trade area with a common stock exchange, it will seek greater cooperation and partnerships among its member-countries. Bearing in mind that among the main goals of the group is forging closer relations with the Asian-Pacific region, one can easily understand why Greece, located at the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa, can be an Observer of great strategic value. In this context, we highly value our Observer status in the Pacific Alliance, a vibrant group of countries, covering more than 38% of the Latin American GDP” stated Mr. George Tsipras, Secretary General for International Economic Relations of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Tarcisio Navarrete-Montes de Oca – Ambassador of Mexico, Jorge Roman Morey – Ambassador of Peru, George Tsipras – Secretary General of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pia Busta – Ambassador of Chile and Honorary Consul of Colombia Michael Skoufalos with diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on far left and far right
All four Ambassadors of the Pacific Alliance pointed out the emerging cooperation between Observer states and the four members, in a wide range of sectors such as tourism, culture, education, trade, entrepreneurship, innovation, infrastructure, science and technology as well as exchange of know-how. As the Ambassador of Peru remarked, “The Pacific Alliance is an adequate and effective access to global markets, particularly in the Asian-Pacific region.”
“Diversifying trade routes, tackling challenges and boosting of extroversion are the key elements that the Pacific Alliance brings to Greek companies,” commented Mr. George Tsipras. “Our political relations have always been good but our economic relations still lag behind” he added.
Compared with other countries Greek trade with South America hasn’t reached its potential. Pacific Alliance products such as Chilean wine, Colombian coffee, Mexican beer and tequila are very popular in Greece. “What about Peruvian products”? I asked the Ambassador of Peru. “Already there are some restaurants serving Peruvian cuisine” he replied. If the way to one’s heart is through their stomach, the latter can also be a way to succeed in business.
Photo credit: Pacific Alliance
