Within the framework of the 60th Ordinary Meeting of the Common Market Council and Summit of Heads of State of Mercosur and Associated States that concluded last week, a bilateral meeting was held between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, Ambassador of Paraguay Julio César Arriola, and his counterpart from Chile, Antonia Urrejola.
The authorities discussed the main topics on the bilateral agenda, emphasizing the historically good relationship between both countries and the interest in continuing on that same path. In this context, They agreed to hold the Political Consultation meeting, at the Foreign Minister level, in the first half of December of this year., according to the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry
They also highlighted the agreements and mutual support established in relation to the candidacies presented to multilateral organisations, as well as the fluid South-South and triangular cooperation between the two countries. They stressed the need to intensify cooperation in the fight against transnational crime, terrorism and organised crime.
Regarding regional integration, both Foreign Ministers They highlighted the relevance that the bioceanic corridor will have for the development of the region in the social, economic, commercial and tourism areas, and which will become an important factor of connectivity and integration between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, allowing access to the Asia Pacific markets.
Foreign Minister Arriola highlighted the completion of the first phase of 277 kilometers, started in 2019 and inaugurated in February 2022, which includes the paving of the road section of the cities of Carmelo Peralta-Loma Plata. He also mentioned that the Ministry of Public Works called for bids to start the next phase, which corresponds to the paving of Mariscal Estigarribia-Pozo Hondo, 224,82 kilometers (West Paraguayan Chaco).
They also talked about the digital connectivity, in particular on the Humboldt project, promoted by Chile, which aims to link the American continent with Asia Pacific through a submarine fiber optic cable. This high-speed cable will be the first to connect Asia with Latin America and Chile will be its gateway.
Ambassador Arriola confirmed the interest in this regional Chilean initiative and pointed out that negotiations are currently underway between Desarrollo País and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MITIC) to sign a confidentiality agreement that will allow Paraguay to learn more technical and financial details of the project in order to determine the modality in which it will participate.
In relation to the expansion and deepening of the Economic Complementation Agreement No. 35 (ACE No. 35) Mercosur-Chile, the Paraguayan Foreign Minister announced that is in the process of being incorporated into the national legal systemsystem. (Press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay)
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