Lima. August 8, 2006. The Acting Secretary General of the Andean Community, Dr. Alfredo Fuentes, this morning hailed the formal invitation extended by the Andean Presidents to Chile to become an Associate Member of the Andean subregional bloc.  He emphasized that this act constitutes the first step toward realizing the aspiration of the Andean countries to once again enjoy the participation Chile, which had been a founding Member of the CAN.

In underscoring the political and economic significance of Chile’s incorporation into the Andean Community, Fuentes stated that it will not only give the Andean Community a geopolitical projection, but will also make it possible to move ahead more rapidly in building the South American Community of Nations and to move closer to the Asia Pacific region by strengthening trade relations with the countries that account for over fifty percent of the world’s trade. 

Fuentes added that the will of the parties to make this association a reality having been formalized and given President Michelle Bachelet’s indication in Quito that Chile’s response would be positive, the time had come to study the details of its incorporation in coordination with that country.  “We have information that a first coordination meeting will be held on the 22nd of this month, when the Chilean Foreign Minister visits Peru,” he reported. 

He went on to add that, in giving Chile the status of Associate Member of the Andean Community, the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers and the Commission should define, via a Decision, the terms for its participation in the CAN’s various bodies and institutions; the mechanisms and measures of the Cartagena Agreement that would be applied; and the CAN legislation that would be applicable to relations between Chile and the CAN Member Countries, together with the mechanism for administering those relations.

Fuentes closed by stating that the four CAN Member Countries have signed economic complementarity agreements with Chile that specify the free trade targets to be gradually met and that for that reason the association with that country would help broaden and deepen the existing trade agreements between the parties.