Peru vows to push for integration of Pacific Alliance

Peru will continue to seek the consolidation of the Pacific Alliance, which currently also includes Colombia, Chile and Mexico, Peruvian Foreign Minister Ana Maria Sanchez said on Thursday.

"I am certain that, over the next five years, this important process of integration will continue to be a central pillar of our foreign policy," she said at an event marking the fifth anniversary of the regional bloc.

Sanchez made the statement just two months before President Ollanta Humala ends his term and steps down on July 28.

The minister said the Pacific Alliance is more important than ever, as it allows the four member countries with a total population of over 200 million to "face the great challenges of the 21st century together."

Sanchez noted that Peru had been a key player in the building of the bloc in 2011, and that the Alliance has become a pillar of the country's foreign policy.

She added that the bloc has been constantly strengthened as evidenced by the building of a common commercial platform, the removal of tariffs on 92 percent of goods being traded and the granting of freedom of movement to its citizens.

She said the bloc is working on an ambitious project to grant its citizens full freedom of employment in other member countries.

The Alliance currently covers around 35 percent of the GDP of Latin America and the Caribbean and receives 30 percent of foreign direct investment in the region.

Source: XINHUA