10:47 | Lima, Mar. 28 (ANDINA).
Peru will liberalize 90 percent of its foreign trade along with Chile, Colombia and Mexico with the signing of an agreement on May 23 in Cali, Colombia, where the next Pacific Alliance summit will be held, it has been reported.
These countries have agreed that 90 percent of the products which are traded among them are going to have 'zero tariffs' and the rest are going to have periods of tax exemption, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said to the foreign press media.
The duty-free access agreement will be signed by Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at the upcoming bloc’s summit, which was formed in April 2011 in Lima by Spanish-speaking Latin America's four most dynamic economies, which total US$1.7 trillion, 35 percent of the region's GDP.
Attending the Cali summit, the seventh held by the Alliance partners, will also be leaders from the countries who have requested observer status in the organization, including Uruguay, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Spain and Portugal, globalpost.com reported.
In addition, Costa Rica and Panama want to become full members of the bloc, which was constituted to foster regional integration, encourage growth and competitiveness and push for the free circulation of goods, services, capital and people.
The members of the TPP - which includes Chile, Mexico, Peru, Australia, Brunei, Canada, United States, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam – “aspire this year to achieve a state-of-the-art free trade agreement," the minister added.
(END) INT/LOG
Published: 3/28/2013