Cooperation is a strategic component within the Pacific Alliance. Parties are pursuing a Cooperation Platform in the areas of:
- Climate change and environment;
- Innovation, science and technology;
- Small and medium enterprises; and
- Social development.
The members established a fund in 2013 to develop the Cooperation Platform, with an initial contribution of USD $1 million. States are committed to make yearly contributions according to the activities plan, decided by the Technical Group on Cooperation.
However, to be fully implemented the agreement creating the fund needs to pass the internal legal procedures within each member. Since the conclusion of the agreement in 2013, none of the members has fully completed the internal approvals.
Three questions arise in relation to the Cooperation Platform within the Pacific Alliance:
1. Is the Cooperation Platform strong enough to support the Cooperation Pillar of the Pacific Alliance in the long-run?
2. How is it articulated with the other bilateral initiatives in cooperation between the members? Not long ago Mexico and Chile concluded 9 agreements for further cooperation. They have had a Mexico-Chile Cooperation Fund operating for 9 years.
3. Are the funds allocated to it correlative to the broad and far reaching areas of cooperation? The resources seem limited to tackle all the areas.
Please feel free to share your views on this or other topics about the Pacific Alliance.
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