São Paulo – The Pacific Alliance, an economic bloc comprising Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico, has begun to set foot on the Arab world. On Tuesday (10th), promotion agencies and embassies from these countries have held a seminar in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to mark the Alliance’s official launch in the region, outlining investment possibilities and business opportunities.<\/p>\n
Throughout this week, the group will hold similar events in Beijing, China; London, United Kingdom; New Delhi, India; and Tokyo, Japan. The Alliance initiative was launched in 2011, but this year the bloc’s actions have picked up steam, and other Latin American countries are standing in line for memberships. <\/p>\n
According to a news report released this Wednesday (11th) on Dubai’s Khaleej Times <\/em> newspaper, the Alliance accounts for 26% of all trade between Dubai and Latin America. According to the newspaper, bilateral trade between the Latin American group and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) amounts to US$ 1.3 billion per year, of which the Emirates answers to 45%. Moreover, the Arab country has over 26 billion dirham (US$ 7 billion) worth of direct investments in the four Latin countries. The GCC is composed of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the Emirates, Kuwait and Oman.<\/p>\n “The Pacific Alliance countries rank among the region’s most attractive for foreign trade and investment, with sound macroeconomic foundations, mature democracies, and listed among the 25 countries with the most ease of doing business as per the World Bank’s ranking,” said the Chilean ambassador to the Emirates, Jean-Paul Tarud, according to Khaleej Times<\/em>. “We have built a strong integration between our countries in order to better relate with the rest of the world, in particular with the Emirates,” he added. <\/p>\n The bloc’s consolidation has spawned a heated debate in Brazil regarding the country’s commercial strategies. The Brazilian government is the leader of regional initiatives, such as the Mercosur, a common market comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and now Venezuela, and the Union of South American Nations (Unasul), a forum for political dialogue between the countries in the region. <\/p>\n Brazil is also a major champion of multilateralism. Brazilian diplomacy wagered on the World Trade Organization (WTO) from the start, and has always stood for the Doha Round. Outside of the organization, the country refuses to sign trade agreements with other countries without the Mercosur’s participation, and the South American bloc has succeeded in signing until this day.<\/p>\n Critics claim this policy is often unfruitful, and that Brazil loses time on endless negotiations, while countries like Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico take a more pragmatic stance, are more open to trade, and more aggressive when seeking agreements. <\/p>\n The CEO of Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, Sami Al Qamzi, has said, according to Khaleej Times<\/em>, that trade between the emirate and the Alliance countries has grown by 34% per year on average since 2008, while trade between Dubai and the world was up by an average of 8%. <\/p>\n *Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n