The following is excerpted from the 27 April 2010 edition of “globeandmail.com”.
Canadian companies can develop new export opportunities to Colombia – and steal market share from the United States – once a new free trade agreement is ratified with the South American nation, Colombian Trade Minister Luis Plata says.
While talks toward a U.S.-Colombia free-trade agreement have stalled, Canada appears on track to pass a trade deal with Colombia in coming weeks, eliminating tariffs on products that are still subject to trade barriers with the U.S….
[Plata] said it would be logical for Colombians to shift more purchases of agricultural products like wheat, corn and barley from the U.S. to Canada if they can be imported more cheaply. Colombian products heading to Canada, which often arrive by way of a U.S. importer, could begin flowing directly, he said.
And Mr. Plata said other new business opportunities will inevitably emerge with a country of 45 million people once a deal is in place, suggesting, for example, that Colombia could begin exporting biofuels to countries like Canada. Trade between the two countries totalled about $1.3-billion last year, accounting for less than 1 per cent of Canada’s trade….
The biggest challenge, however, remains Colombia’s reputation for violence, illegal drugs and a long-running rebel insurgency – a reputation Mr. Plata said is out of date.
Since the government of President Alvaro Uribe took office in 2002 and launched a “tremendous effort” to reform policing and the judiciary, Mr. Plata said the country’s murder and kidnapping rates are down 50 per cent and 85 per cent respectively since 2002, and that a history of violence against union organizers is also being curbed.
Colombia, he said, is now launching a rebranding campaign to alert the world to its improving legal and human rights record.
“I’ll never deny we have difficulties and challenges, but right now the reality in Colombia is far better than it was seven years ago, and it’s far better than the image that we have,” Mr. Plata said.
… The Liberals have already agreed to support the deal after winning a concession that both countries will conduct an annual review of their respective progress on human rights violations. Mr. Plata said each government will do its own human rights assessments under the proposed compromise. Colombia’s will be done by his trade ministry, he said.
Colombia is now pursuing free-trade deals with 49 countries as part of a pro-business stance that has opened the country for trade since 2002. Canadian companies have directly invested over $4-billion in Colombia in the past five years, especially in the mining sector….
