BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PACIFIC ALLIANCE

Strong Initiative In 2011 Mexico, Columbia, Chile and Peru came together as a single grouping under the banner of the Pacific Alliance (PA).

- Ravi Srivastava

Significantly, all four of them lined the Pacific Ocean towards Latin America's Southern boundaries. Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) together constitutes 33 countries, the term was coined in the mid-19th century to denote countries of the South & Central Americas, Mexico and the Caribbean. The emergence of the PA has been a bold and ambitious move by the member countries, struggling to get a growth momentum within the Latin American framework.

Collectively the alliance has emerged as the eighth-largest economy and the eighth-biggest exporter in the world. These four countries together represent 38% of GDP, 50% of total trade volume and attract 45% of the Foreign Direct Investments within the collective figures of LAC. Together it has a population of 230 million with per capita GDP of $19,000 dollars. The population mostly consist of a qualified workforce with an average age of around 30 years. The alliance soon figured out its priorities towards reforming itself, as a bureaucratic heavy business model was proving its biggest bane.

Numerous steps were taken towards transforming PA as a free trade and investment destination. This has resulted in achieving 92% of tariff-free trading within the grouping. A single market, single window concept was evolved and smartly the Alliance was pitched as the most attractive trade destination in the LAC. It worked, by 2023 Pacific Alliance has attracted 63 countries as observers; Canada as a Strategic Alliance partner; Singapore as its first Associated State with an FTA; Australia and New Zealand are negotiating for similar FTA arrangement and Costa Rica wants to join the alliance as it's fifth member. An impressive development by any standard and all of it has been achieved within a decade.

Gateway To LAC