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Doing Business in Bolivia


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Syllabus of the Subject: Foreign Trade and Business in Bolivia. Bolivian Economy. La Paz

  1. Introduction to the Plurinational State of Bolivia;
  2. Bolivian Economy;
  3. Doing Business in La Paz;
  4. International Trade of Bolivia;
  5. Foreign Direct Investment in Bolivia;
  6. Case Study: Business Opportunities in Bolivia
    1. Petrol;
    2. Gas;
    3. Manufacturing;
    4. Telecommunications;
    5. Agriculture;
    6. Services.
  7. Case Study:
    1. Bolivian integration corridors;
    2. ENTEL Telecommunications.
  8. Access to the Bolivian Market;
  9. Business Plan for Bolivia.

The aims of the subject “Foreign Trade and Business in Bolivia” are the following:

  1. To analyze the Bolivian Economy and Global Trade;
  2. To know the business opportunities in Bolivia;
  3. To explore the Bolivian trade relations with the country of the student;
  4. To know the Bolivian Trade Agreements;
  5. To examine the profile of the Bolivian Companies;
  6. To develop a business plan for the Bolivian Market.

Global Trade and Business in Bolivia:
International Trade and Business in Bolivia, La Paz

Online Education (Courses, Masters, Doctorate): Trade and Business in Central America

Online Student (Master International Business Foreign Trade)

The Subject “Foreign Trade and Business in Bolivia” belongs to the following Online Programs taught by EENI Global Business School:

Masters: International Business, Foreign Trade.

Masters in International Business and Foreign Trade (MIB) - Online Education

Doctorate: American Business, World Trade.

Professional Doctorate in International Business (DIB). Online Education

Languages: Courses, Masters, Doctorate in International Business and Foreign Trade in English (or Study Master Doctorate in International Business in Spanish Bolivia Masters Foreign Trade in Portuguese Bolivia Study, Course Master Doctorate in International Business in French Bolivie).

  1. Credits of the subject “Foreign Trade and Business in Bolivia”: 1 ECTS Credits;
  2. Duration: one week.

International Trade and Business in Bolivia

Market Access - Free Trade Agreements. Online Education (Courses, Masters, Doctorate)

Bolivian Market Access and Free Trade Agreements.

  1. Bolivia and the Latin American Economic Area;
  2. Andean Community
    1. Andean Community Agreements: MERCOSUR, Mexico, EU, Chile, Panama, India, China, Russia.
  3. Bolivia-MERCOSUR (Associate). Protocol of accession to the MERCOSUR;
  4. ALADI;
  5. Mexico-Bolivia Economic Complementation Agreement;
  6. SELA;
  7. UNASUR;
  8. Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP);
  9. SICA (observer country);
  10. The Republic of Bolivia retired from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) in 2019.

Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA)

Trade Facilitation Programs. TFA Agreement. Online Education (Courses, Masters, Doctorate)

  1. WTO
    1. Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS);
    2. Agreement on the Application of Sanitary Measures;
    3. Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade;
    4. Agreement on Preshipment Inspection;
    5. Agreement on Safeguards;
    6. Trade Facilitation Agreement.
  2. WCO
    1. Revised Kyoto Convention.

Central Interoceanic Hub America (Master)

Online Education (Courses, Masters, Doctorate): Latin American Economic Integration

American Trade and Economic Organizations:

  1. Inter-American Development Bank;
  2. OAS;
  3. ECLAC;
  4. CELAC
    1. EU-CELAC Summit.
  5. East Asia-Latin America Cooperation;
  6. Summit South American-Arab Countries;
  7. Africa-South America Summit.

Online Education (Courses, Masters, Doctorate): Globalization and International Organizations

Global Economic Organizations:

  1. UN
    1. UNCTAD;
    2. ITC;
    3. WIPO.
  2. WB;
  3. WTO;
  4. IMF.

Andean Community: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru (Course Master Doctorate)

Plurinational State of Bolivia (America).

  1. Bolivia has nine departments (Beni, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Tarija, and Santa Cruz) and 112 provinces;
  2. Borders of Bolivia: Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Paraguay, and Chile;
  3. Bolivian population: 10 million people;
  4. Bolivian Area: 1,098,581 km²;
  5. Official languages of Bolivia: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani, and thirty-three local languages;
  6. According to the Bolivian Government: “Bolivia is a Social Unitary State of Plurinational Communitarian Law decentralized and autonomous”;
  7. Abolition of Slavery in Bolivia: 1826;
  8. African Diaspora in Bolivia: 0.5% of the Bolivian population;
  9. Independence of Bolivia: 1825 (from Spain), recognized in 1847.

Religion in Bolivia: Christianity (9.5 million).

  1. Catholicism (7 million);
  2. Protestants.

Bolivia belongs to the Latin American Economic area of the Western Civilization.

Online Education (Courses, Masters, Doctorate): Christianity and Global Business (Catholicism, Protestantism)

Bolivian Economy.

  1. According to the Central Bank of Bolivia, the balance of payments showed a surplus of 325 million dollars;
  2. Bolivian GDP: 34,175 million dollars;
  3. In 2009, the Bolivian Government signed a debt cancellation with the Government of Spain;
  4. The Plurinational State of Bolivia has significant natural resources: mining and gas;
  5. Through the Bioceanic Logistics Corridor, the Plurinational State of Bolivia has positioned itself as a regional distribution hub between the largest markets of the Pacific and the South Atlantic region of South America;
  6. Nationalizations have taken place since 2006 in the hydrocarbons, mining, and telecommunications sectors; business opportunities in these areas for the foreign direct investment have become more limited;
  7. Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows received in Bolivia were 687 million dollars, mainly in the hydrocarbons sector;
  8. Currency: Bolivian (BOB);
  9. Entel holds a Leadership position in both fixed and mobile telephony, as in the various telecommunications value-added services.

Bolivian Economy (Doctorate, Master, Course)

Foreign Trade (Importing, Exporting) Online Education (Courses, Masters, Doctorate)

International Trade of Bolivia:

  1. Total Bolivian exports products reached 4.848 million dollars FOB (28% of the Bolivian gross domestic product);
  2. Export flows were characterized by low levels (average of USD 1.919 million);
  3. Total petrol exports were lower;
  4. Regarding the non-traditional exports, their value was higher by 1.4%;
  5. Non-traditional export products that showed increases in value were: soybean meal (52%), sugar (41%), soybean oil (31%), soya beans (23%), flour soy (20%), and coffee (5%);
  6. Capital products imports stand for 28% of the total;
  7. The balance of payments of Bolivia recorded an extra of 325 million dollars (Central Bank of Bolivia).

Foreign Trade flows of Bolivia with the rest of the World (data in dollars).

  1. Trade with the MERCOSUR fell to 708 million, mainly owing to lower natural gas exports to Brazil;
  2. With the Andean Community, there was an increase of positive balance of 158 million due primarily to the higher exports to the Republic of Colombia and Ecuador;
  3. With the Central American Common Market - Central American Integration System (SICA), ran an international trade deficit of 0.2 million to an extra of 2.7 million;
  4. With the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA/NAFTA 2.0), the deficit augmented to 131 million due both to the decline in exports as the largest imports;
  5. with the EU, there was an increase of 90 million (3.2 billion in 2008) by augmented exports, highlighting the positive foreign trade balance with Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK;
  6. With the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) augmented extra owing to augmented to 6 million dollars extra with Switzerland;
  7. In Asia, the positive balance of 130 million mainly explained by the favorable balance with South Korea.

Colombia, Peru-European Union Free Trade Agreement

Mexico-Andean Community (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia) Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru)-MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay) Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru)-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA)



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