The Eurasian Economic Union & Latin America and the Caribbean: A Transcontinental Partnership
Foreword This document was prepared as a cooperative effort by the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to reveal and examine opportunities and cooperation challenges between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The report has compounded a framework of cooperative ties established by the Memorandum of Understanding concluded between EEC and ECLAC in Moscow in 2018. The readiness to join forces demonstrated by the two international organizations reaffirms their adherence to the shared principles of multilateral partnership. These common core values bridge the two geographically, historically and culturally distant regions. Aiming to identify the most fruitful collaboration areas, the present document scrutinizes the regions’ commonalities and peculiarities, as well as both barriers to and spurs for interaction. Proceeding from the analysis of the economic, political and social development of EAEU and LAC States while highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the two regions, the report elaborates on the patterns of inter-regional trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) ties, exploring the possible opportunities that could strengthen commercial relationships between their businesses. Whereas both EEC and ECLAC place specific emphasis on inspiring entrepreneurial contacts, the current level of interaction seems far from the intensity and efficiency it could deliver. Despite the regions’ unarguably large markets and the prospects for creating interregional value chains, recent growth in trade turnover has been based on low value added products, including fertilizers and food items. Notwithstanding the increase in investment volume, the major share of capital targets offshore territories. At the same time, the investment case study suggests that joint ventures and business initiatives have recently tended to defocus from extractive industries to encompass such spheres as information technology (IT), pharmacy, engineering, etc. In the face of the current pandemic those are areas of renew and strategic importance. Nevertheless, to fully realize the
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