Lima, July 24, 2008.- The Secretary General of the Andean Community, Freddy Ehlers, today --Andean Integration Day--, proposed a major Andean agreement that would encompass new issues that have appeared on the international scene during the first decade of the twenty-first century and that were not foreseen when reforms were made to the Cartagena Agreement twelve years ago.

He formulated this proposal today during the ceremonial session held at the San Francisco Convent to celebrate Andean Integration Day, commemorating the birthday of Simón Bolívar, the Liberator.  The event brought together, inter alia, high-level Peruvian government officials, Ambassadors from the CAN Member and Associate Member Countries, and representatives of social, business, academic and cultural organizations and of the Andean Integration System.   

Freddy Ehlers explained that the challenges the Andean Community must confront during the twenty-first century include sustainable development, food security, the participation of women, young people, indigenous communities and people of African descent, the fight against corruption, and migration.  “The dimension of the challenges we are facing compels us to join together to face the future,” he pointed out.   

The Secretary General also went on to state that he trusted that the negotiation of an Association Agreement between the Andean Community and the European Union will reach a happy conclusion and expressed his optimism regarding the success of recent overtures to secure the U.S. government’s extension of the ATPDEA. He reported that plans have been made to strengthen relations with Chile, Mexico and Panama and to deepen and expand the political dialogue and cooperation with China, Russia and India.

On evaluating the almost 40 years of the Andean integration process, Freddy Ehlers underscored the region’s growth over the four decades in question.  While the population doubled from 43 million in 1970 to 96 in 2007, trade among the Andean Community countries increased 78-fold over that same period, rising to more than 5 500 million dollars from 75 million.   

He stressed that over the four decade period, intra-Community trade in manufactured goods multiplied by 131, from barely 32 million dollars in 1970 to over 4 thousand million in 2007.  “This is particularly significant if one considers the large number of jobs involved in manufacturing,” the Secretary General emphasized.   

He went on to mention other important results in the Andean countries.  Net international reserves climbed 101 times (rising to 57 467 million dollars in 2007 from 567 million in 1970), foreign direct investment increased almost 94-fold (from 142 to 14 343 million dollars a year), and the gross domestic product multiplied by almost 21 (up to 338 052 million dollars from 16 098 million).

Ehlers stressed that despite these advances, the inequality and differences among the highest and lowest income sectors continues to be the subregion’s main problem.  Its heavy population growth means that there are 20 million more poor people today than there were in 1980 and that the gap between the 10% highest wage earners and the poorest 10% of the population almost doubled over that period.    

The most vulnerable sectors are particularly hard hit by the new threats like climate change and mushrooming food prices --he stated emphatically-- , making it necessary to harmonize long-term visions in order to produce a major agreement for confronting the ever-present problem of inequality, together with the new challenges of the twenty-first century.