Pre-Conference Workshop - The Pacific Alliance: Latin America Re-Discovers Asia

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

The Pacific Alliance is a new fashion in Latin America. Born back in 2011, in Lima, as an initiative of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, aiming at expanding primarily the trade relations of the four countries with Asia, it is now considered one of the most promising regional integration projects in the Western Hemisphere. The scope and diversity of the Alliance’s current and anticipated future programs are quite remarkable: joint diplomatic missions, common stock exchange and legal frameworks, labor mobility and integrated pension funds are just ones of the highlights. At the same time, the initial goal of the Alliance’s “founding fathers” – to further advance their economic and political ties with Asia- remains on the top of the agenda as well. This comes as no surprise, since for all four member- states, the leading Asia-Pacific economies, namely China, Japan, and South Korea, are amongst the most important trade partners.
While sharing common interest to the geographical region on the other side of the ocean, the leaders of the Pacific Alliance are also aware of different legacies, experiences, and capacities of their countries when it comes to the relations with the Asian nations. These differences represent both advantages and disadvantages for the future of the Alliance’s love story with the other continent. It is especially true for Colombia, which has been an active promoter and supporter of the integration processes within the Pacific Alliance and for which the impact of fostering of economic ties with Asia has been one of the strongest hopes for the success of post-conflict reconstruction efforts in the former war-torn areas along the Pacific coast. On the other hand, for Mexico, the Alliance provides an opportunity to establish its political and economic institutional presence in South America whereas, for Chile and Peru, the block offers a convenient new collaborative framework outside of the traditional schemes. All in all, it seems that time has come to talk about a new Latin American discovering of Asia, and the workshop, organized by the LASA Section for Asia and the Americas in collaboration with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, will explore various dimensions of the Pacific Alliance and its strategies towards Asia by gathering key experts on the topic from Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Colombia, as well as from the United States and the Asia-Pacific

Panelists:
•José Luis Parra A., Executive Director, the Pacific Alliance Strategic Observatory, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
•Vladimir Rouvinski, Director, the Pacific Alliance Studies Program, Icesi University
•Ricardo Pino, Professor and Research Director, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
•Gonzalo Paz, Professor, Georgetown University
•Juan Pablo Prado, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
•Camilo Pérez Restrepo, Professor and Director, Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, Eafit University

Sub Track

• Special Events / Meetings

Chairs

• Vladimir V Rouvinski, Icesi University

• Monica C DeHart, University of Puget Sound