Course Summary
Economic profile of the Andean Countries. Relationships with European Union, Mercosur, USA, China, India, Russia, ...
The Andean Community (COMUNIDAD ANDINA) is a subregional organization endowed with an international legal status,
which is made up of Bolivia,
Colombia, Ecuador
y
Peru and the bodies
and institutions comprising the Andean Integration System (AIS).
- Partner Countries: Chile,
Argentina,
Brazil,
Paraguay and
Uruguay
- Observer countries: Mexico and Panama
Located in South America, the five Andean countries together have
97 million
inhabitants living in an area of 4 700 000 square kilometers, whose Gross
Domestic Product amounted to 260 billion dollars.
Objectives:
- Promote the Member Countries’ balanced and harmonious development under
equitable conditions through integration and economic and social
cooperation;
- Step-up their growth and job creation;
- Facilitate their participation in the regional integration process, with
a view to the gradual formation of a Latin American common market;
- Reduce the Member Countries’ external vulnerability and improve their
position in the international economy;
- Reinforce subregional solidarity and reduce differences in development
among the Member Countries; and
- Seek the continuing improvement of the living standards of the
subregion’s inhabitants.
Sample of the Course:
The Andean Integration System (SAI) is a set of bodies and institutions
forming part of the Andean Community, designed to allow for an effective
coordination between them in order to maximize subregional Andean integration,
promote their external projection and strengthen the actions related to the
integration process.
The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) is a multilateral financial
institution that supports the sustainable development of its shareholder
countries and regional integration. While its main shareholders are
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa
Rica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Spain, Trinidad
& Tobago, and Uruguay, as well as 15 private banks in the region, are also
shareholders.
CAN seeks to strengthen its links with United Nations
(UN), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) the
Organization of American States (OAS), the
World Trade Organization, the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI)
and the Latin American Economic System (SELA), among others.
The Andean Community's Common Foreign Policy (CFP)
It should be stressed that trade relations between the CAN and Chile have
also been significant and growing. Andean exports to that country have tripled
over the past 4 years, to approach a figure of US$ 1,560 million in 2005, driven
mainly by the heavy growth of Peruvian and Colombian exports, although all of
the Andean countries showed important increases. Of the Andean countries, Peru
is the largest buyer of Chilean products, followed in importance by Colombia,
Ecuador and Bolivia.
CAN and the European Union
The establishment of a biregional strategic alliance between the Andean
Community and the European Union that should lead to the signing of an
Association Agreement that includes a free trade agreement has strengthened
relations between the two blocs.
The European Union is the Andean Community’s second most important trading
partner. In 2004, 12% of the Andean countries’ total exports went to that
market, which supplied 13% of their imports.
The Third Summit of South American Presidents, held in Cusco on December 8,
2004 witnessed the political creation of the South American Community of
Nations, a great political project combined with a program of decentralized
development. As decided by the Presidents at that meeting, the South American
Community of Nations will be shaped through the gradual convergence of the Andean Community and MERCOSUR and Chile, together with Guyana and Suriname.
It is the intention of the Andean Community to deepen and consolidate its
relations with the Central
American Integration System (SICA), consisting of
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras,
Nicaragua and Panama, in
order to move toward Latin American integration through the coordination and
convergence of the subregional blocs.
Relations between the Andean Community and MERCOSUR, integration blocs whose
membership includes nine of the twelve South American countries, have evolved
rapidly toward a convergence process that will benefit the 350 million
inhabitants of their member countries. The advances are reflected in the
creation of a free trade area and the implementation of a political dialogue
that have made it possible to arrive at a reciprocal association between the two
blocs.
The United States is the main trading partner of the Andean Community Member
Countries. In 2004, 41 percent of the CAN's exports went to the United States,
which was responsible for 26 percent of its imports.
The Andean Community and the People’s Republic of
China signed an "Agreement
for the establishment of a political consultation and cooperation mechanism" in
March 2000, in order to strengthen their cooperation and trade, business and
technological exchanges and their dialogue on international multilateral
matters.
In June 2003, the Andean Community and the
Republic of India established a
Political Dialogue and Cooperation Mechanism for the purpose of strengthening
and diversifying their friendship, understanding and cooperation and developing
mutual trade and investment relations and cultural and scientific exchanges.
In implementing its Common Foreign Policy, which subscribes to a principle of
open regionalism, the Andean Community has stepped up its contacts with the
General Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and
with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC).
The Andean Community and the Russian Federation have established a mechanism for
political dialogue and cooperation to strengthen and expand their friendship,
mutual understanding, and economic, scientific and technical cooperation, as
well as their cultural ties.
Andean, Community, CAN, Trade, goods, services, investments, Economic, profile, Andean Countries, Relationships, European Union, Mercosur, USA, China, India, Russia
