Argentine president Mauricio Macri is convinced that in the second half of the year Mercosur will sign the long awaited trade agreement with the European Union and will establish closer links with the Pacific Alliance, according to a report in one of Buenos Aires leading radios.
Mercosur and Pacific Alliance foreign ministers are scheduled to meet this Friday in Buenos Aires, on an Argentine initiative to advance in a possible political and trade confluence with the prospect of a regional alliance in the near future. The controversial Venezuela case will also be on the table, but attendants have anticipated that they won't let this issue dominate the agenda or cast a shadow on the purpose of the summit.
Mercosur expects to sign a framework accord this year for a trade deal with the European Union as the U.S. shift to isolationism under President Donald Trump encourages it to look outside the hemisphere for opportunities, Brazil's foreign minister Aloysio Nunes said on Tuesday.
Argentina and Chile agreed to organize a major Mercosur, Pacific Alliance trade blocks' meeting during the first half of 2017. Last Friday Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and her cabinet were in Buenos Aires with peers Mauricio Macri and ministers as part of an agenda of regular meetings to address a joint agenda.
Mercosur founding countries national coordinators met on Tuesday in Montevideo and admitted that the block is going through an emergency situation because of the presidential acephaly, but agreed on proposals to overcome the challenge and in a business as usual spirit, are readying for a meeting with the EU on trade negotiations and on the Action Plan to advance closer links with the Pacific Alliance.
Latin America needs greater economic integration and a merger of Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance should be the objective, according to Argentine president Mauricio Macri, who insists in loosening trade restrictions in his country and the region.
Uruguay, a founding member of Mercosur has been invited by Pacific Alliance members Colombia and Peru to update and expand commercial agreements with the two countries and turn them into a free trade treaty, foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa revealed during a hearing in Congress to analyze the current situation in Mercosur.
The Pacific Alliance must be ready to react to a possible surprise in the United States presidential election, Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said in Chile on Thursday.
The presidents of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, the four member states of the Pacific Alliance, met on Thursday in the Chilean town of Puerto Varas to strengthen their economic integration in order to deal with the ravages of global finance. They also called for closer links with the European Union to bolster education for development.
The Pacific Alliance must improve integration of financial systems to spur investment in key areas such as infrastructure, finance ministers from the four member nations said on Thursday. The group, composed of Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Peru, has already reached several accords in areas such as free commerce and immigration rules, but admitted that significant opportunities for integration remained.