Bolivia reiterates its request to Mercosur to become a full member

Bolivia reiterated this Wednesday in the Paraguayan city of Luque its request to become a full member of Mercosur and highlighted its “potential” in areas of energy, productivity, innovation and other experiences such as “possibilities of complementation” with the member countries of the bloc.

“I reiterate, on behalf of the Bolivian people, the deep interest in converting Bolivia into a full member of Mercosur,” said the Bolivian Foreign Minister, Rogelio Mayta, at the Ordinary Meeting of the Council of the Common Market that precedes the meeting of heads of state which will take place this Thursday in Paraguay.

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Mayta highlighted the “geostrategic” position that Bolivia has in South America by sharing 72% of its borders with Mercosur countries, in addition to the “enormous potential” it has to offer “in terms of energy, production, innovation and experiences.”

The Bolivian minister especially highlighted his country’s proposal to work mainly on “joint initiatives” in the field of energy with “clean and renewable technologies.”

Mayta gave as an example the progress in projects that Bolivia has had with Brazil for the development of hydroelectric inventory studies in the Madera River and its tributaries, as well as the electrical interconnection project with Argentina to offer around 120 megawatts.

“We propose to all the party states to identify complementarities that may exist between the electrical systems that aim at regional energy integration,” he remarked.

Mayta highlighted important steps taken by Mercosur such as the continuity of the Fund for Structural Convergence (Focem), “in order to reduce asymmetries within the integration process”, the coordination for the establishment of a bloc’s own arbitration and mediation center, between others, as spaces in which Bolivia could contribute.

The country is about to celebrate a decade since the signing of the accession protocol to Mercosur, which took place in 2012.

In 2015, all the member countries signed the accession protocol of Bolivia, which was followed by the parliamentary approval of the members, pending the legislative ratification of Brazil.

“We hope to be able to celebrate our admission as full members soon to contribute to the convergence of the integration processes,” said the Bolivian foreign minister.

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