As to the value of the Pacific Alliance, the Pacific Alliance is a platform aiming at fostering economic growth, competitiveness, integration, and effective cooperation among its member countries.
Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Peru consider the alliance as an effective mechanism for the promotion of economic growth, developing open economies and market diversification, and investing in technological innovation. In this sense, the alliance has a priority in the four countries' foreign policy agendas.
In the face of the global economic and financial crisis, the alliance encourages open economies and revitalizing international trade as tools to promote global economic growth. The economies of these four member countries already show steady growth in a diverse global financial environment. In this connection, the alliance shows great potential as a forum for the articulation of economic cooperation in Latin America, the Pacific, and Asia-Pacific areas.
The population of the countries of the alliance is 205 million people. Their combined GDP is $1.88 trillion US dollars, which is more than 35 per cent of the GDP of Latin America as a whole. Half the exports from the region come from the four member countries of the Pacific Alliance. According to 2011 global figures, the Pacific Alliance economies were positioned in 10th place, after Italy and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN.
The promotion of democratic regimes, the rule of law, and international trade are the main commitments of the Pacific Alliance, and are now considered as the driving force of their economic growth. The four member countries are among the most open economies and the most stable democracies in the world. The alliance has four of the most dynamic economies in the Latin American-Pacific basin. The four economies share a clear appreciation of the Asia-Pacific.
Cooperation is a key component of the Pacific Alliance: free movement of people, security and public safety, climate change, academic change, integration of its top markets, establishment of joint diplomatic and trade offices, electrical and physical interconnection. This means that it's more than a trade agreement; it's a full integration project.
Canada has the support of Peru to be an observer. We fully support the possibility that Canada is going to be a full member of the Pacific Alliance. There are a lot of steps that the observing countries have to achieve to be full members. Right now, observing members are Costa Rica, Panama, Canada, Uruguay, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Guatemala.
Regarding Peru's perspective of the Pacific Alliance, Peru considers the Pacific Alliance as a means to promote economic growth with social inclusion. The Pacific Alliance is not an ideological bloc. It aims to complement all the existing regional integration efforts. Peru sees with great sympathy Canada's interest in joining for the first time a Latin American integration process.
Finally, a favourable location in the Americas, as well as the fact that the Canadian government has signed a trade agreement with the four members of the alliance, puts Canada in an advantageous situation compared with the other observer countries. The Pacific Alliance is moving toward an ambitious integration process that will go beyond the strengthening of commercial and investment ties among the most open and dynamic economies of the region. In this context, political dialogue and cooperation, together with free mobility of people, are key factors in this process.
From an inter-regional perspective, economic and social sustainable development is a main goal of the alliance. From an international point of view, a main goal is the strengthening of the bloc economy to Asia-Pacific markets. This is the first time that Canada has expressed an interest in joining a Latin American integration bloc. This could be a first step leading Canada to a better knowledge of Latin America and to concrete and effective integration with the region.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.