LIMA,PERÚ-ABRIL 28.El minsitro de Comercio Exterior, Eduardo Ferreyros, inauguró el II Encuentro de Integración Financiera de la Alianza del Pacífico.Foto:ANDINA/Oscar Farje Gomero.
Peru's Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Eduardo Ferreyros affirmed the Pacific Alliance will act as a bloc when negotiating with "associated" countries seeking trade ties.
"The associated countries status has been created to that end; they won't be identified as member countries, but as countries wishing to negotiate an FTA with the Pacific Alliance [PA] as a bloc," he explained.
The Pacific Alliance has more than 50 observer countries, he said, but it seeks to move forward hand-in-hand with them.
"These countries are not members of the Alliance, but they have requested to be included; they want to know the topics of our conversations and the rules we are setting out for our negotiations," he pointed out.
"For instance, New Zealand has expressed interest in negotiating with the four Pacific Alliance countries as a bloc," he said.
Speaking from the Second Financial Integration Meeting of the Pacific Alliance, he said the Pacific Alliance's production makes it the eight largest economy in the world.
(END) CNA/JJN/RMB/MVB
Published: 4/28/2017