Colombia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom expects a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) to be ratified in 2011.
According to Ambassador Mauricio Rodriguez, the United Kingdom does not want to left out of growth in Latin America and therefore all their actions are focused on expanding trade ties with the region.
“I believe that if an FTA is signed with the European parliament, the EU could easily replace the United States as Colombia’s main partner in matters of trade and investment,” Rodriguez said in an interview with newspaper La Republica.
He said that Colombia’s proposed economic bloc with Mexico, Peru and Chile will make a trade agreement more attractive to the EU, as “together we are much more powerful.”
The UK Minister of State, Jeremy Brown, is set to visit Colombia in May on behalf of his country, who also officially invited Colombia’s Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin to visit the British Foreign Minister. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is planning to visit England in November.