The Pacific Alliance had a busy week closing with the Presidential Summit on Friday 1 July where new mandates to guide the progress of the integration mechanism were decided on.
The presidential summit was preceded by meetings of the High Level Group, The Free Trade Commission, The Ministerial Council and the Metting of Ministers of Finance. The IV Business Metting also took place on the 29th June. In addition, the third meeting of higher education institutions of the PA on the 21 and 22 June was an opportunity to discuss the role of the academic and student mobility platform for the integration of the PA countries.
Steps were taken this week on various fronts. First the PA members approved an accord that sets the tax rate on pension funds investments returns at 10 percent. This agreement covering the pension funds from the four members is an effort to boost investment in infrastructure projects while opening up the pool of investment options for these entities within the region. However this is a ceiling rate that will only require implementation by Mexico since Chile and Peru have a rate that is already 5 per cent, while Colombia has a zero per cent rate for pension funds from the PA. In addition, a decision on the creation of a regional infrastructure fund is still pending.
