Lima, Sept. 20, 2006.- The Andean Council of Foreign Ministers, meeting in enlarged session with the CAN Commission in New York during the course of the United Nations General Assembly, today reached important decisions to enhance the Andean Community’s external projection.

The Foreign and Trade Ministers, in addition to approving Chile’s incorporation into the CAN as an Associate Member, reached a consensus on the text of the Agreement to establish a Political Dialogue and Cooperation Mechanism between the CAN Member Countries and Mexico and expressed their hope that the Agreement will be signed at the forthcoming Ibero-American Summit to be held this coming November 3 to 5 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

They pointed out that the Agreement, which is the result of a constructive two-year dialogue between Mexico and the CAN, will be the first step toward building a future association between Mexico and the Andean Community.

In examining relations between the CAN and the European Union, the Foreign Ministers hailed the completion by Bolivia and Ecuador of the ratification and incorporation into domestic law of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the Andean Community and the European Union signed in December 2003, which lays the groundwork for the future Association Agreement between the CAN and the EU.

They also expressed their political will and hope to shortly start negotiating the Association Agreement between the Andean Community and the European Union that will include the political dialogue, cooperation and a trade agreement.

The Andean Ministers, furthermore, agreed to an in-depth examination of the role to be played by the Andean Community in the construction of the South American Community of Nations at the meeting to be held in Lima this coming November and deemed it of paramount importance to coordinate beforehand the efforts of the Andean Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Trade with the Integration Secretariats.

In the course of the New York meeting, the Ministers also approved the methodology to be used for the reflection exercise about the integration process and its reinforcement in the current international context that will be carried out over the next sixty days, based on the document presented by the General Secretariat on "Avances y perspectivas de la CAN" (CAN Advances and Prospects) distributed today to the Ministers by the Acting CAN Secretary General.

They agreed, as well, to hold reflection workshops in the four CAN Member Countries, with the participation of representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Trade, the organs and institutions of the Andean Integration System, academia and civil society and of integration experts. The conclusions of this process will be submitted to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in enlarged session with the CAN Commission in Lima during the last week of November.

In addition, the Andean Ministers agreed to elect the new Secretary General of the Andean Community by November 28 of this year and instructed Dr. Alfredo Fuentes Hernández to continue in the meantime to exercise the duties of Secretary General that were entrusted to him through Decision 640 of 2006.