|
Chancellor Merkel Visiting Latin America to Further Develop Partnership
 |
Chancellor Merkel
© BPA |
Chancellor Angela Merkel embarked Tuesday on a one-week trip to Latin America. In the Peruvian capital Lima she will be attending the EU-Latin America summit. The Chancellor will also be holding talks in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. She sees opportunities for increased cooperation, in particular in the fields of climate, the environment, energy and education.
The Chancellor is accompanied by a delegation of members of the German Bundestag and an 11-strong business delegation, which includes representatives of medium-sized companies working in the fields of environmental technology and transport.
“For medium-sized companies in particular we have achieved a lot,” declared the Chancellor at a conference in Berlin before she left. “We want to open up new opportunities for these businesses in our global world.”
Energy agreement with Brazil
In Brazil an energy agreement is to be signed that will step up cooperation in the field of renewable energies and energy efficiency.
Energy, environment and climate change will also be one focus of the EU-Latin America summit. The second focus will be poverty reduction and social cohesion. The host country has specially requested that the Chancellor give a keynote speech on this topic.
The EU-Latin America summit in Lima is a huge event. Twenty-seven EU member states and 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries will be taking part, along with the European Commission. In Lima, a total of over 60 high-ranking delegations will meet, as well as numerous observers, NGOs and business representatives. The summit is designed to firm up the strategic partnership between the two regions first launched in 1999. It is the fifth EU-Latin America summit. The meetings are held once every two years; the first summit was held in 1999 in Rio de Janeiro.
Colombia: First visit of a German head of government
After the EU-Latin America summit, the Chancellor will be carrying on to Colombia. This will be the first time a German head of government has visited the country. The Chancellor will be holding talks with the Colombian President, Alvaro Uríbe.
After years of violent internal strife, the situation in Colombia has stabilized remarkably. On the domestic front, the government is facing the task of regaining a monopoly on the use of force over guerrilla and paramilitary groups, as well as fighting the drug trade. Another focus of its policies is compensating victims of the conflict. Angela Merkel will meet members of the national reconciliation committee and will be talking to the public prosecutor general about the problems facing the country.
Getting emerging economies involved
The last leg of the Chancellor’s trip will take her to Mexico. Like Brazil, Mexico is one of the “group of five” (G5). These two states, along with China, India and South Africa are the most important emerging economies. Politically they are becoming steadily stronger. As a result they should in future be involved to a greater extent in resolving global economic and environmental problems.
At the last G8 summit in Heiligendamm, the EU member states (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada, USA and Russia) launched a dialogue with them on this topic.
There are, however, also down sides to development in Brazil and Mexico. The divide between the haves and the have-nots remains great, but positive progress predominates.
“We want the Latin American states to be successful,” Chancellor Merkel stated before she left. “We want their young people to succeed and we want to see democratic principles win through.” She is looking forward to her second Latin American trip for this reason. She first visited the continent in her capacity as Environment Minister.
Latin America is home to 540 million people, and generates five percent of global domestic product, making it the fourth largest economic region in the world. Over the last five years it has enjoyed consistent fairly high rates of economic growth: in 2007 the economy of the region grew at a rate of 5.6 percent. The demand for minerals, fuels and agricultural produce in particular are allowing the economy to expand. Germany's foreign trade with Latin America has also expanded dynamically: exports have risen by 6 percent and imports by 16 percent.
May 13, 2008
Links
 EU / LAC Lima Summit May 16-17, 2008
 Speech by Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the debate on
Latin America in the German Bundestag on May 9, 2008
German Bilateral Relations with Peru
German Bilateral Relations with Brazil
German Bilateral Relations with Colombia
German Bilateral Relations with Mexico
|
Printer-Friendly
Page
Email This Article
.png)
