Peru ratified this Wednesday the FTA between the Pacific Alliance and Singapore, making it the first country in this bloc to do so, according to a supreme decree published in the official newspaper El Peruano.
The supreme decree, signed by President Dina Bolaurte and Foreign Minister Ana Gervasi, “ratifies the Free Trade Agreement between the Pacific Alliance and Singapore, signed in Bahía Málaga, Buenaventura, Colombia, on January 26, 2022 and the attached letter on the work program exchanged between Peru and Singapore on January 26, 2022″.
The PASFTA, for its acronym in English, “will promote trade and investment opportunities for Peruvian micro, small and medium-sized companies, as well as the promotion of innovation, electronic commerce, public purchases, temporary entry of business people, and a greater participation of our country in global value chains,” the Foreign Ministry reported in a statement.
And with its entry into force, the originating materials of one or more members of the Pacific Alliance incorporated into a merchandise produced in the territory of Singaporewill be considered as originating from that Asian country.
Similarly, it will allow materials originating in Singapore, incorporated into a good produced in the territory of a member of the Pacific Alliance, to be considered as originating in that member country.
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The statement noted that once PASFTA enters into force for the rest of the Pacific Alliance member countries (Mexico, Colombia and Chile), Singapore will become the bloc’s first Associated State.
This condition will allow you to participate in meetings of the different instances of the integration mechanism and to host activities that contribute to the promotion of integration. Pacific alliance.
In addition to being able to develop work together with the member countries on issues of mutual interest in the economic, commercial and cooperation fields, such as the digital economy, technology and innovation, green growth and sustainability, among others.
That Peru was the first of the bloc’s member countries to ratify this treaty, comes after last Saturday, its government stated that the Pacific Alliance “should not be politicized” and accused the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to depart from the principles of the bloc”.
Since he has refused to hand over his pro tempore presidency (PPT) to Peru, as it should, considering that the Government of Dina Boluarte is “spurious.”
The Peruvian Foreign Ministry remarked, in a statement, that Lopez Obrador “refuses to comply with the obligation that binds his State to transfer the PPT to Peru, because he has decided to support the coup d’état of then-President Pedro Castillo, broadcast live in his message to the nation on December 7, 2022″.
“With that, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador it departs from the principles contained in the Framework Agreement referring to democracy and the rule of law and has politicized the Pacific Alliance, with the sole purpose of weakening it”, he emphasized.
The Foreign Ministry remarked that the transfer of the pro tempore presidency to Peru “is not a concession, it is an obligation contained in a treaty that binds the four countries that make up the Alliance.”
He assured, in this sense, that “despite the fact that the Mexican government has continued to exercise the de facto PPT, the work of the mechanism is paralyzed, as a result of the politicization that it is being subjected to for the first time in its history.”
He reported that he has “formally requested the convening of the High Level Group of the Pacific Alliance to jointly address the transfer of the Alliance’s PPT, without it having been convened by Mexico, among other obstacles that it has raised during the talks. that have been maintained with said country”. EFE
