The presidents of Chile, Peru, Mexico and Colombia met in New York to discuss investment and integration possibilities, reported local media on Monday.
The rulers of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos; of Peru, Ollanta Humala; of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, and Chile, Michelle Bachelet, joined forces in New York invited by businessman and former mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The four leaders are in New York to attend the high-level segment of the General Assembly of the UN, starting on Wednesday, and for a series of bilateral or multilateral meetings.
In a public forum, Bloomberg defined the Pacific Alliance as “people who are moving and shaking the world markets” which led the four rulers to extol the benefits of this alliance, forged on June 6, 2012.
MORE: Pacific Alliance – the Colombia, Peru, Chile & Mexico trade bloc
With 237 million potential consumers and a combined economy valued at $ 2.2 trillion, the Pacific Alliance stressed the democratic stability, investment security and the abundance of natural resources of its member countries.
The Pacific Alliance is considered a “non-political, but pragmatic and realistic” partnership dedicated to a “healthy growth” character, reported Radio Santa Fe.
“In the Pacific Alliance we are not competing. On the contrary, if there are possibilities for communicating with other countries, with other processes of integration where we can create synergy, so be it,” said Colombia’s President Santos.
In turn, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, described the formation of this group of countries as “a very good experience from four countries which have economies that although different sizes, also have elements in common,” she said.
In a similar sense, the Peruvian president Ollanta Humala said that members of the Pacific Alliance share values which has enabled the group to be formed as a block of global importance.
“I would like to mention the theme we have of shared values: democracy, respect for institutions, and this also allows us to progress and ensures that the Pacific Alliance is one of the major regional blocs worldwide,” Humala said.
Likewise, the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, explained the spirit of the economic bloc.
“We are open countries, we sustain the development of our economies on foreign trade and openness to the world,” he said.
“That is perhaps the core of what makes us to be identified with the Pacific Alliance,” the Mexican head of state.
“Economic growth is not a goal, it is itself a mechanism for development,” said Bachelet, who insisted on the need “to achieve a more equitable distribution” in the societies of the region as Latin America remains “the place with much inequality in the world,” reported Portafolio.
But when they spoke of the “realism” of this alliance, Michelle Bachelet also recognized that the negative growth has not been as expected.
“For a couple of years ago there has been a slowdown in the economy of our region which has meant that growth rates are lower than we would like but this was estimated years ago,” she added: “It does not mean recession. The region is still growing but more slowly.”
Sources
- Alianza del Pacífico insiste en apostar por crecimiento sano (Portafolio)
- Santos destaca los proceso de integración de la Alianza Pacífico (Radio Santa Fe)