President Iván Duque responded harshly to the proposals of the candidates Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández to renegotiate an FTA. His statement was made after participating in the second edition of the United Kingdom-Colombia Trade Dialogue forum, during a last visit to the United Kingdom before the presidential elections.
“When commercial relationships have been forged that bring investment, that generate jobs and opportunities, breaking with that it would be unprecedented stupidity“, he said in Britain in the middle of his tour of Europe.
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And he added: “Precisely the State policies lead to us having more trade and investment. Whoever scares away investment and trade today is only going to generate a punishment for the opportunities in the country.”
The president is in the United Kingdom precisely to formalize the free trade agreement (FTA) between Colombia and the United Kingdom.
Now, regarding The revelation of seeking to modify the FTA had been made by presidential candidate Gustavo Petro this Sunday in an interview with EL TIEMPO.
In the extensive talk, this newspaper asked him: “Regarding the United States, it has been 10 years since the entry into force of the FTA. What is your balance?”
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In an enriching conversation with businessmen and investors from the United Kingdom, we reiterate that Colombia is ready and open for business, to create access to new markets, because today we have more robust regulations than ever before in the country’s history. pic.twitter.com/qiZq5MI2CN
— Ivan Duke (@IvanDuque) May 19, 2022
To which he replied “Has the FTA helped to increase drug trafficking or has the FTA helped to eliminate or reduce it? The FTA was going to be an instrument that was going to empower drug trafficking in Colombia. That was my thesis. Well, what happened? Drug trafficking was empowered, we reduced our food production, the Colombian countryside was emptied, deindustrialized; what we had in the metalworking industry no longer exists. And what has grown is the production of cocaine. We have to talk to the United States about the FTA.”
“That requires that the two parties want to renegotiate. In the event that the United States is not open to that possibility, would it be feasible to denounce the treaty?” EL TIEMPO asked him.
“I believe in dialogue. Of course, there is a probability that it will not be possible to discuss the conditions under which the FTA was signed, that probability exists, and then if the United States says no, then it cannot be said yes because the treaty is bilateral. But I would thoroughly exhaust that possibility of a bilateral modification of the treaty, which has already been done in other parts. Trump did it with Mexico, for example,” Petro replied.
For its part, Rodolfo Hernández, from the Anti-Corruption Leaders League, also announced that he will review the FTAs so that “Colombian industry can increase its productivity and its exports” so that it is “competitive in this commercial framework.”
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