Summary:
In April 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that annual growth in Latin America and the Caribbean would contract for a second straight year, the worst performance since the debt crisis of the early 1980s. Yet regional averages, dragged down by recession in Brazil and sharp economic decline in Venezuela, tell only part of the story. The countries of the Pacific Alliance—Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru—are not the region’s top performers in terms of GDP growth (that distinction falls to Panama and the Dominican Republic). But according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), their average annual growth rate between 2014 and 2016 is expected to total 2.6 percent, more than double the regional average. Together, the four Pacific Alliance (PA) countries constitute almost 40 percent of the regional economy but their collective exports are 55 percent of the region’s total.

The framework accord creating the Pacific Alliance was signed in 2012, aimed at increasing “the free circulation of goods, services, capital, and people,” while also providing a unified platform for deeper integration with the Asia-Pacific region. A review of trade data from 2012 to 2014 suggests that progress toward these goals has been uneven.

Trade has almost uniformly and across multiple sectors decreased within the PA since 2013. Pacific Alliance countries have to a large extent continued to trade more substantially with their longstanding trading partners in large outside markets such as the United States and Europe. Overall, however, and at a time of economic slowdown throughout Latin America, the reductions in trade between and among Pacific Alliance countries in 2013 and 2014 have been smaller than the reductions in each country’s bilateral trade with Argentina and Brazil, South America’s two largest markets. This points to the greater stability of trade within the Pacific Alliance.

 …[T]he relatively stronger performance of Pacific Alliance members vis-à-vis several Asian countries during a period of recessionary shocks indicates that Alliance members are—despite obstacles—making headway in bolstering trade relations with Asian partners, a key goal of Pacific Alliance integration.

Resumen:
No disponible

Authors: Meghan Greene and Cynthia J. Arnson
Full document2016, Greene & Arson, Pacific Alliance Ongoing Challenges Trade Integration

Abstract:
The entry into force of the Additional Protocol of the Framework Agreement of the Pacific Alliance in May 2016 marked an important step towards the regional integration efforts of its four members: Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. In addition to promoting trade and investment linkages among its members, a core objective of the Pacific Alliance —and what distinguishes it from other regional integration efforts in Latin America— is to serve as a platform for economic and commercial integration between Latin America and the Asia-Pacific. It is, therefore, of particular interest to evaluate current economic developments taking part in modern Latin America and their impact upon these integration efforts.

The data of bilateral flows of trade in goods at the product and sector level, together with the study of trade in services as well as foreign direct investment, reflect the strong links within the Pacific Alliance. It also reveals the potential to further increase its members’ participation in regional and global value chains.

The Additional Protocol will serve not only to eliminate tariffs for nearly 95% of intraregional imports but also to foster economic integration through cumulation of origin and trade facilitation.
The Pacific Alliance faces several challenges in the medium-term. First, it must successfully incorporate Costa Rica as a full member, the first accession since the Pacific Alliance was established.
Further, it must define how to fulfil one of its driving forces: to serve as a bridge between Asian and Latin American countries on both sides of the Pacific.

Authors: José Durán Lima and Daniel Cracau
Institutional author: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Full document: 2016, Duran & Cracau, The Pacific Alliance and its economic impact on regional trade and investment

Abstract:
Not available

Resumen:
El proceso de integración regional Alianza del Pacífico (en adelante, AP) es visto como uno de los proyectos supranacionales con mayor proyección y capacidad de crecimiento en América Latina. Cuatro de los países latinoamericanos con mayor estabilidad política y apertura económica de la región han iniciado un ambicioso proceso que busca crear un área de libre circulación de bienes, servicios, capitales y personas, y de fortalecer las relaciones económicas con Asia. La iniciativa ha levantado una gran expectativa y esperanza en América Latina en la que numerosos procesos de integración, pese a ciertos avances en el comercio intrarregional han quedado estancados o no han alcanzado los objetivos iniciales.

El objetivo del documento es identificar el grado de integración económica entre los distintos miembros de la AP, en lo referido a comercio exterior e inversiones extranjeras, a fin de orientar las políticas públicas encaminadas a fortalecer el proceso de integración.

Author: Adrián Blanco Estévez
Spanish Title: La Alianza del Pacífico: Un largo camino por recorrer hacia la integración
Full document: 2015, Blanco, La Alianza del Pacífico-Un Largo Camino por Recorrer hacia la Integración