This week he began with an important announcement by the Colombian Foreign Ministry, which through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laura Sarabia, reported that officially began the process to exempt from visa the Chinese citizens, as a way to boost trade, tourism and foreign investment in Colombia.
This movement was given in response to the formal request of President Gustavo Petro, who put on the table the need to analyze other sources of income and commercial allies, after the 10% tariff imposed by the United States to the country, in the midst of the commercial war that began at the end of March.
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Currently, citizens of that country require visa to enter Colombia, unless they have a current visa or residence from the United States or of the Schengen space, in which case they can enter without the need for that document.
China has been consolidated as one of Colombia’s main commercial partners since 2020. In fact, for January of this year, 28.4 % of Colombian imports came from the Asian giant, according to data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).
China.
Is it a good idea?
As soon as this measure was known, various sectors reacted to the samearguing that while it is an important step, especially when President Petro and his counterpart Xi Jinping are close to meeting, it is necessary that it is not taken lightly, since every decision has its benefits, but also damages that would not be taken into account, at least to adopt actions that mitigate the impact.
From the American Colombo Chamber, Amcham Colombia, stressed that it is necessary to open the debate and consult both experts and guilds, on, for example, if they agree or prepared for a change of these magnitudes, since beyond relations with other countries, you should also think about economic stability.
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María Claudia Lacouture, president of Amcham Colombia, said that “the announcement of lifting the visa requirement for Chinese citizens must be analyzed with strategic criteria. Although it is a sovereign decision of the government and can be interpreted as a gesture to strengthen bilateral relations, it is key to put in the balance what is earned and what is risky. Colombia needs to align its foreign policy with the geopolitical interests that are most convenient. ”
Lacouture added that so far the Chinese have not fulfilled everything to what they committed in recent years and for them there is no balance in the commercial balance. This situation contrasts with the United States, who argue that it is an important ally and movements with China could generate differences.
China
“The relationship with China has been marked by promises rather than concrete results, especially in commercial matters. While we export more than USD 2,000 million to China, we import more than USD 15,000 million, a highly unfavorable balance that is not corrected with symbolic gestures, ”they explained.
In this sense, they were emphatic that with the United States there are tangible benefits that could be committed if this diplomatic signal is not handled prudence, especially when the relationship with China is a sensitive issue in American politics, especially under the vision of President Donald Trump.
In this way, in Amcham Colombia they called so that the passage of the construction of the bilateral agendas is not affected and it is taken into account that beyond diplomacy, the most important thing is to understand that everything is linked to the economy and that any false step could generate an instability to regret later.
