€45B in investments to come to Region as EU-CELAC Summit ends

…Pres Ali holds talks with European Commission President, Dutch PM

By Jarryl Bryan

The European Union-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States’ (EU-CELAC) Summit has ended with participating countries agreeing not only on an almost unified declaration, but €45 billion
in European investments that will come to the Region.
An update on the tangible results of the two-day summit in Brussels, Belgium, was given by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. During a press conference on Tuesday, von der Leyen revealed that €45 billion in investments, encompassing hundreds of projects, have been agreed on for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

“We had good deliverables. And I want to focus on the part of deliverables for our people and for our businesses. On the first day we launched the Global Gateway Investment Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean.”
“We will bring over €45 billion of high-quality European investments to Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 135 projects are already in the pipelines. So, it’s a very good start,” she explained.
The European official made it clear that these projects must be accompanied by the highest environmental and social standards, as well as transparency. It will also include sharing technology and knowledge, while training local workforces for “the jobs of the future”. According to her, work must now be done to formalise these projects, which she noted range from clean hydrogen to mRNA vaccines.
“We want to share technology and knowledge. And the training of local workforces for the jobs of the future is one of the core elements. For us, it is important in these investments that the local communities benefit from the added value produced there. This is also in our interest, because we want reliable and trustworthy suppliers.”
“Now, of course, together we have to shape the investment agenda. And we have to decide which sectors, which value chains to prioritise. And then we have to implement and deliver. The range of projects is very wide. It goes from clean hydrogen to critical raw materials. From data cable networks to mRNA vaccines. Important also is that Global Gateways is not just about how much we are investing, but about how we are investing,” von der Leyen explained.

EU
President Dr Irfaan Ali, meanwhile, held bilateral discussions with von der Leyen, largely focused on cooperation on forests. Their discussions follow Guyana’s recent signing of a roadmap with the European Union for the implementation of its forest partnership. Guyana currently has a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in place.

Through the Voluntary Partnership Agreement, Guyana will have to improve market access to EU businesses, as well as modernise its forestry sector, create jobs, promote sustainable development, and protect the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Under the VPA, Guyana commits to developing a timber legality assurance system to assess that timber products – for all stages of the supply chain – have been produced in accordance with national legislation. When this system is operational, Guyana can issue verified legal timber products with FLEGT licenses.

Netherlands
Meanwhile, President Ali also met with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the summit, where they discussed trade relations, regional cooperation, infrastructure and climate action, and water management.
Other developments during the summit include an almost unanimously agreed 41-point declaration that includes a commitment to hold EU-CELAC summits every two years. The last time the EU-CELAC summit was held was in 2015, also in Brussels.
It was also agreed to strengthen and advance trade between the EU and CELAC. In particular, the EU seemed to heed the calls to advance the free trade agreement with the Southern Common Market, commonly known as MERCOSUR.
“We will continue to further strengthen and develop trade and investment relations between the EU and CELAC countries and regions. We stress the importance of full implementation of Association and Trade Agreements between the EU and CELAC partners.”
“We call for the ratification of agreements signed and currently applied. We welcome ongoing processes towards the signature of the modernised agreement between the EU and Chile and the EU and Mexico in the coming months. We take note of ongoing work between the EU and Mercosur,” the declaration further said.