Pacific Alliance: What benefits will it bring to the member states?
The regional integration initiative seeks to expand its cooperation borders 
The second round of negotiations between the member countries of the Pacific Alliance and the four countries that have submitted as candidates for the Associated State of this trade bloc is taking place in the city of Costa de Oro in Australia: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.
According to information released by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, negotiations have focused on the field of trade between the bloc of countries and candidates for Associated States. Specifically, the conversation revolves around the chapters of agricultural and industrial goods, trade defense, rules of origin, trade facilitation, sanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, public procurement, trade in services and investment, regulatory improvement, cooperation, environment, labor, gender, competition and state companies, SMEs, among others.
The Colombian government explained before the appointment that the negotiation is aimed at enabling the Alliance countries to increase and diversify their exports to the Asian Pacific region, also allowing access to inputs and raw materials, attracting new and better investments and expand tourism.
Incorporation of Associated States
At the close of the Pacific Alliance Summit, held in Cali in June 2017, the presidents of the four countries that founded the bloc (Colombia, Peru, Chile and Mexico) seven years ago, announced the arrival of a new category of countries. They also reported on the four candidate countries.
At the time, the founding countries of the trade bloc explained that the negotiation of a block trade agreement with the four candidates for Associated State will have no effect on the trade agreements that are already signed between them.
The Pacific Alliance in figures
The Pacific Alliance, signed in 2012, represents about 41% of GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean, making it the eighth largest economy in the world despite the economic difficulties these countries have experienced in recent years.
The success of the first years of the block can be measured by the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that attracted. In 2015, investment represented 44% of the total that reached Latin America and the Caribbean in that year, for an amount close to 70,000 million dollars.
According to calculations of the same Alliance of the Pacific, the candidates to Associated State in total add a population of 71 million inhabitants, a GDP per capita average of USD 46 thousand and a global annual trade of USD 1,78 billion.
On the other hand, between January and November of 2017, Colombia exported to the candidate countries to be Associated States a total close to USD 824.6 million, representing an increase of 76.2% compared to the same period of 2016. Of that total , US $ 349.6 million corresponded to non-mining energy goods, which represents an increase of 14.2% compared to the first 11 months of 2016.
LatinAmerican Post | Daniel Ramírez
Copy edited by Susana Cicchetto
