Pacific Alliance approves initiation of negotiations for Costa Rica’s membership

The Council of Ministers of the Pacific Alliance yesterday approved Costa Rica’s request to begin negotiations and become part of this regional bloc, according to the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Pacific Alliance is currently made up of Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico, the latter country as host of this meeting in which Costa Rica made its request for membership official through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arnoldo André Tinoco.

The Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, delivered to Foreign Minister André the invitation for the President of Costa Rica to attend the next Summit of Heads of State of the Pacific Alliance to be held in Oaxaca, Mexico, next November.

According to the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry, the Pacific Alliance is a regional integration initiative that promotes the free circulation of goods, services, capital, and people among its member countries, with commercial projection to the world, mainly to the Asia-Pacific region.

“Costa Rica has free trade agreements with the four current members, to which it directs approximately 7.5 percent of its exports.”

“Foreign direct investment from those countries represents approximately 7.7 percent of the total received in 2017-2021,” the Foreign Ministry indicated.

THE PACIFIC ALLIANCE

The Pacific Alliance is an initiative of regional integration comprised of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, officially established on April 28th, 2011. Its objectives are:

Build in a participatory and consensual way an area of deep integration to move progressively towards the unrestricted mobility of goods, services, resources, and people.

Drive further growth, development, and competitiveness of its members’ economies, focused on achieving greater well-being, overcoming socioeconomic inequality, and promoting the social inclusion of its inhabitants.

Become a platform of political articulation, economic and commercial integration, and projection to the world, emphasizing the Asia-Pacific region.

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