Andean countries celebrate XXX Anniversary and XI Presidential Summit

Lima, May 12 99. The XI Andean Presidential Summit will be held with the participation of the heads of state of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, from May 23 to 27, 1999 in the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias. The meeting coincides this year with the celebration of the XXX anniversary of the signing of the Cartagena Agreement that gave rise to the present Andean Community (CAN).

The agenda for the XI Andean Presidential Summit will center on the establishment of the Common Market, the implementation of the Common Foreign Policy, the development of the Social Agenda, and the execution of a Community Integration and Border Development Policy.

Colombian president Andrés Pastrana, as Chairman of the Andean Community, has sent out invitations to his counterparts in Panama, who will participate as an observer, and in Chile, Paraguay, Nicaragua and Suriname, the last three of whom will represent Mercosur, Central America and the Caribbean.

CAN General Secretariat sources estimate that 400 persons will take part in the 15 meetings scheduled to celebrate its 30th anniversary, which will culminate on the 26th and 27th with the meeting of the Andean Presidential Council, the Community's top-level leadership body.

As a result of the revolving nature of the bodies belonging to the Andean Integration System, Colombia will hand over the Chairmanship of the CAN to Peruvian head of state Alberto Fujimori.

Meetings of the Councils of Foreign Ministers and of the CAN Commission, comprised of the Ministers of Trade and of Industry, are planned to start on May 23. On Tuesday, May 25, the two bodies will meet in joint session.

The Advisory Council of Andean Community Treasury and Finance Ministers and the Andean Council of Telecommunications Authorities (CAATEL) will open their meetings on Sunday the 23rd.

Labor and private sector representatives will first meet separately as the Labor Advisory Council and the Business Advisory Council, and then jointly

Also planned are meetings of the Environmental Ministers and of the maximum authorities of the Andean Integration System and a working breakfast organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

As part of the events commemorating the XXX anniversary, the Andean Film Sample will be inaugurated at the Carlos Crismat Theatre in the evening of Sunday, May 23 and will run until Wednesday, the 26th.

The Bogota Chamber of Commerce, for its part, will introduce the book by Edgar Vieira "El mercado ampliado andino: una realidad" (The enlarged Andean Market: a reality) and the Andean Community General Secretariat will do the same with the text "30 años de integración andina: Balance y Perspectivas" (30 years of Andean integration: Results and Prospects) by Héctor Maldonado Lira.

The Andean Presidential Council will be opened on Wednesday, May 26 and will conclude at noon on the 27th, with the signing of the report and a press conference.

Prior to the events celebrating the XXX anniversary, on May 20 and 21, the Labor Ministers of the five Andean countries will meet in Cartagena de Indias also, and after the summit, on May 28, the Business Dialogue between CAN and the United States will take place and the Andean-United States Council on Trade and Investment will meet.