Ecuador and Uruguay began analyzing a new trade agreement

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso met with his Uruguayan counterpart, Luis Lacalle Pou, as part of the Ecuadorian president's official visit to Uruguay. The Heads of State met last Tuesday afternoon at the Executive Tower located in the city of Montevideo. During the meeting, they exchanged experiences in different areas and discussed the possibility of signing a bilateral trade agreement.

The visit to Uruguay was part of the official trip that Lasso began last Sunday and which had as its first stop Argentina, where he also met with President Alberto Fernández. In both countries, the Ecuadorian president was accompanied by Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguín; Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, Julio José Prado; and Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society, Vianna Maíno.

According to Lasso, the meeting with the Uruguayan president was successful: “I had a very fruitful working meeting with a friend and ally from Ecuador: the president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou. We both have the firm conviction of strengthening trade and development cooperation. We will follow that path for the prosperity of our countries! ”, said the president on his Twitter account. A statement from the Presidency of Ecuador also highlighted that “Ecuador and Uruguay share common values such as respect for democratic institutions, the independence of the powers of the State and human rights”.

On the possibility of signing a trade agreement, this would be done within the framework of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), which is the largest Latin American integration group with thirteen member countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Lasso highlighted that the economies of both countries are complementary, so Ecuador sees a great opportunity to export bananas to the Uruguayan nation, and the possibility of importing meat products, among others.

Lasso, who also held a meeting at ALADI headquarters, reported on his Twitter account that “the importance of creating a Latin American common market was agreed.” The policy of trade integration presented in the Ecuadorian president's speech was highlighted by the Secretary General of ALADI, Sergio Abreu: “Ecuador's vision of the world is of an important openness, including Ecuador's infrastructure conditions, telecommunications and modernity,” he said.

Among the topics addressed by the leaders were the management of risks and natural disasters, the fight against child malnutrition, the promotion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, transparency and the fight against corruption.

As the Ecuadorian president has used to, in his official agenda, he included a meeting with Uruguayan businessmen in order to position Ecuador's trade policy and expose the advantages of investing in the Andean country. As part of these meetings, Lasso met with the representatives of Mercado Libre. The CEO of this firm, Marcos Galperin, announced that next June the company will open offices in Ecuador: “We feel invited to invest and generate jobs in the Ecuadorian nation; we will bring our own capital to help people carry out financial transactions digitally,” said Galperín, as reported the Presidency of the Republic in an official gazette.

Among the activities carried out by the President of Ecuador in Uruguay was the placing of a floral offering at the Monument to the Uruguayan Hero Gen. José Gervasio Artigas.

Guillermo Lasso will be one year as president of Ecuador on May 24. Although his government has considered signing several trade agreements as part of its foreign trade policy, the Lasso administration faces domestic policy issues such as insecurity, the fight against drug trafficking, corruption in state institutions and the crisis of governance in a composite Legislature by opponents of his government.

KEEP READING: