Speech by the President of the Republic of Colombia, Andrés Pastrana Arango, at the Special Meeting of the Andean Presidential Council
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, January 30, 2002

INTRODUCTION

It is indeed an honor for me to return to this sister country at the kind invitation of my colleague and friend, President Jorge Quiroga. Even more so, considering the importance of the effort that brings us together. We meet here, dear colleagues, just as we did earlier in Cartagena, then in Lima and most lately in Valencia, to examine with frankness and serenity the progress of the integration process that joins us together and to state what each of us expects from the Andean Community, as well as what we can do to consolidate it and improve its operation.

Colombia is convinced that integration is the best possible strategy for magnifying our strengths and mitigating our weaknesses so that we can successfully meet the immediate challenges that globalization and the hemispheric free market hold for us.

I would like to start off with some principles that I wish to declare emphatically and clearly: Colombia, which saw the birth in 1969 with the signing of the Cartagena Agreement, of what is today the Andean Community, has been, is and will continue to be a firm advocate of the merits of integration. Given the surprising accomplishments of the Community over the past decade, which are the best possible proof of the benefits of integration, Colombia will continue to wager on our Andean process.

During this exercise in reflection on the present and future of our Community, we must speak out openly and realistically accept the fact that many of our positive declarations and expressed intentions of intensifying our integration, from the Act of Guayaquil in 1998 to the recent Act of Carabobo, have come to nothing and are mere rhetoric that we repeat year after year without any concrete results to show for it.

TRADE INTEGRATION

We must be fully aware of our realities and of our present environment. Countries cannot progress or prosper on their own in the globalized world. We have ahead of us extremely important negotiations with the Mercosur and in the immediate future those leading to the formation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas in 2005. If we are not truly united, if we do not form a subregional group with a firmly established economic and commercial integration, with clearly stated rules of the game and a defined strategy, we will not be able to take the place we deserve on the world stage.

It is a fact, and we must recognize this, that trade within the subregion has grown substantially since the Free Trade Area was formed in 1993. We now have a trading bloc that in spite of the worldwide economic crisis generates close to 6 billion dollars in intra-subregional trade, as compared with only one billion in 1992.

But how much more could we produce if we were to put new life into our commitments, if we were to step on the gas and to commit ourselves once and for all to take the necessary steps to set the Andean Community on firm economic foundations!

Colombia is willing to work with determination to make the Common Market a promising reality for our countries after the Free Trade Area is consolidated and the Customs Union is perfected. We ratify our intention to have a Common External Tariff in place and, as a result, a perfected Customs Union that will enter into force during the second half of this year.

If the political will exists, we can still accomplish that basic objective in time. A Common External Tariff, without loopholes or exclusions, should cease to be a continually expressed but unfulfilled aim in each annual declaration.

A Common External Tariff that would boost our countries’ industrialization and exports with a high value added should be made a reality before it becomes meaningless in the face of the imminent hemispheric negotiations.

Only in the degree to which we are determined to adopt a Common External Tariff will it be possible for us to assume and maintain a positive position at the forefront in the hemispheric negotiation of the FTAA and in other negotiations with third countries, such as those we hope to carry out later between the Andean Community and the European Union.

Colombia also reiterates the need to define the Common Agricultural Policy comprehensively and to remove all measures that quantify or otherwise limit trade among the Member Countries, while at the same time promoting more efficient production of raw materials that will make all agroindustrial chains competitive internally.

If we want true and effective integration, we must also start as soon as possible on the study and revision of some of the mechanisms of the Andean legal system that will be outmoded if we deepen our integration, as is our intention. In particular, it is essential to adjust and update the trade defense measures provided for in Andean provisions that allow the Member Countries to resort to restrictive practices that threaten the credibility and future of our Community.

However, as I stated in Valencia, it is not a question of trade for trade’s sake, or of integration for the sake of integration. An increase in trade within the Community means, more than anything, the diversification of our economies, a better role in the world economy and the creation of plentiful new jobs in our countries.

Behind integration are the people: the more than 800 thousand jobs in Bolivia, in Ecuador, in Peru, in Venezuela and in Colombia created by positive and growing trade among our countries.

ANDEAN POLITICAL AGENDA

Today, I invite you to reflect upon the need to put new life into not only our trade, but also into our political agenda, our common foreign policy and our social agenda.

We must bear in mind the multidimensional nature of integration in order to cope with the myriad challenges the Community faces, as well as the expectations of our peoples. The Social Agenda should continue to be an essential chapter of our efforts and for that reason it is absolutely essential that our Ministers who work in this area meet in the course of this semester to design, together with the pertinent bodies of the Andean system, a Community strategy for supplementing the social efforts of the countries.

As for the political agenda, Colombia proposes that we reinforce it by starting with four issues that could serve as the pillars for our work: human rights; measures for confidence- and coordination-building among our military and police authorities; the establishment of a peace zone and cooperation on drug control and related offenses.

In regard to the world drug problem, we must give priority to implementing the "Andean Cooperation Plan for the Control of Illegal Drugs and Related Offenses." The Andean countries that have undoubtedly been the main victims of the huge global illegal drug problem must set an example of effective and comprehensive cooperation on the matter and we are willing and ready to help develop and carry out the Action Program and the respective Operational Plans. The new international situation shaped by the events of September 11 makes it necessary for us to search out and destroy the links between drug trafficking and international terrorism with increasing efficiency. The Andean countries cannot delay the establishment of a common front to control the financing of terrorist activities that feed on the enormous profits from asset laundering that circulate throughout the international financial system.

If we progress firmly in these four areas that I have mentioned, we will be able to feel well satisfied at the consolidation of an effective political agenda in our Community.

ANDEAN FOREIGN POLICY

Insofar as our foreign policy is concerned, it is necessary for us to chart a course, from a Community and comprehensive standpoint that will allow us to properly design and strategically plan that policy. If we delve into the political dimension and consider the priorities of the Andean Community as a whole, we will be better equipped to move ahead on the various issues.

It is necessary to reinforce concerted political and commercial efforts and the consensus regarding the challenges that have been raised for the Community in its foreign relations, namely our relations with the Mercosur and the consolidation of a South American free trade area, the political dialogue and cooperation on drug control, the strategic association with the European Union, the shaping of a new international financial architecture and the negotiations underway in the context of the FTAA and the WTO.

If we want to have a Community that is truly active, we cannot let individual interests take precedence over those of the Community, for that would make our collective efforts meaningless. The only way to achieve the Community, to which we aspire, a strong and mature one, is through a Community vision that will leave behind private positions. When we are able to unite around Community interests, we do it well and we are successful. Such is the case of the United States Andean Tariff Preferences Act, which is on the right track for renewal and expansion by the United States Congress, thanks largely to the timely joint overtures of the Andean countries. The same could be said about the trade benefits granted by the European Union under the Andean GSP, which were recently extended for a three-year period, to December 31, 2004.

ANDEAN SOCIAL AGENDA

Last of all, I would like to refer to the great importance of creating appropriate and concrete tools for advancing the topics on the Andean Social Agenda. Much has been said about its importance, but in truth we have done little, aside from holding some highly fruitful meetings of Ministers of specific areas in each of our countries, such as the Meeting of Ministers of Health which took place a couple of weeks ago in Cartagena, and arriving at concrete and highly positive agreements, such as the decisions referring to the establishment of Border Integration Zones (BIZs) and Binational Border Service Centers (BBSCs). We must do much more, however. We cannot afford to overlook the benefits of coordinated efforts and of horizontal cooperation.

CONCLUSION

It is an obvious truth that "united we stand," but sometimes we appear to forget that, as we each confront problems of our own that we cannot escape. In this connection, it is vitally important to give the Community a synergy its own that will enhance the credibility of our integration process and attract foreign direct investment and more investment from the subregion itself.

What we must understand is that our own problems would be much easier to handle and resolved more rapidly if our countries were to take the course toward fruitful and dynamic integration.

I sincerely and with enthusiasm extend this invitation to you from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, from our beloved Bolivia which today receives us with open arms: We must become more united, for only by uniting can we be more!

Thank you.