11:27 | Lima, Jan. 21 (ANDINA).
Peru’s President Alan García Pérez talked to a group of Spanish businessmen and expressed his will to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Peru and the European Union (EU), without having the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) as mediator.
Peru’s president began the first day of his official visit to Spain with a breakfast meeting with some Spanish businessmen to strengthen the economic, trade and political relations between the two nations.
Regarding the economic subject, president García expressed his concern over the lack of progress on the negotiations between the EU and the CAN to sign a trade deal, considering that these talks must be conducted from “bloc to bloc”.
However, he stated that there is “other way” to make Peru attract more foreign investments “out of agreements that endanger free trade”.
For this purpose, President García said that Peru is able to directly negotiate the signing of a FTA with the European bloc, without having the CAN as mediator within the negotiation process.
Spanish media informed that the Peruvian President pointed out that the signing of a trade agreement between both blocs is now impossible because two members of the Andean group, Ecuador and Bolivia, “do not believe in free trade”.
(END) JCP/GCO/AVC/EEP
Published: 1/21/2008