Before the end of 2016, Adriana Roldán, Associate Professor of Asia Pacific Studies from the Asia Pacific Studies Center of University EAFIT in Colombia and blogger of Shaping the Pacific Alliance has shared with us her general advice for enhancing relations with Asia and on the situation of Colombia with the conclusion of the Transpacific Partnership Agreement  (TPP) on the early days of October 2015.

Strategy to Enhance Relations with Asia

It is an objective of the Pacific Alliance (PA) to efficiently reach the Asia Pacific, but PA has not yet said how or when. Hence it is essential that the four members of the Alliance match and coordinate strategies on the following fronts. Continue reading

Adriana Roldán Pérez, Associate Professor of Asia Pacific Studies from the Asia Pacific Studies Center of University EAFIT in Colombia, has shared with the Pacific Alliance Blog her thoughts and recommendations for the forthcoming participation of the Pacific Alliance in the APEC Meeting and the role that Colombia should play. These are some of her insights:

On the entry of Colombia as a possible APEC member

“In first place it was very interesting to see that in this year’s survey on the State of the Region prepared annually by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), opinion leaders were asked about the possibility of opening the membership to new countries.  Several of these options made reference to Colombia and some members of the Pacific Alliance. This indicates that there is a good atmosphere and that PECC could be the channel to recommend the eventual entry of Colombia to APEC. However, the gateway for Colombia should be through the Pacific Alliance. The schedule of upcoming summits of APEC in developing countries could facilitate putting the issue of new members entrance to the forum on the table. Continue reading

PABC-CEAP: A Distinctive Feature of the Pacific Alliance Configuration?

The Pacific Alliance Business Council is a private initiative, a body comprised by several of the most representative business people in each of the member states of the Pacific Alliance. The Council has advisory roles formulating recommendations and suggestions to the governments and business unions about the Pacific Alliance and ways to enhance cooperation among the members.

Since its official establishment the Business Council has promoted an ambitious agenda for the integration scheme to develop and many of its initiatives have been channeled with the creation of technical groups entrusted with the role of reviewing and implementing its proposals. They include topics from financial integration to taxation, education, entrepreneurship and innovation.

The Business Council could become a distinctive feature of the Pacific Alliance since the early support to the integration scheme is a key to develop integration from the bottom to the top.

Integration in Latin America has been a process mainly driven by the governments, but PABC could mean a change to this traditional path.

Interview with SBS in Spanish discussing the recent progress made by the Pacific Alliance, its institutional challenges and the lessons learned from previous integration processes in the region.

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