The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Muñoz, accompanied the President of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet, on the first day of the APEC Forum held today in Manila, capital of the Philippines.
One of the most important activities in which they participated was the working lunch meeting with APEC leaders which are part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. At the end of the meeting, Secretary of State Muñoz said that "it was a good meeting about the TPP. A proposal by President Obama to sign the agreement on February 4, 2015 in New Zealand was agreed upon."
Muñoz also explained that President Bachelet spoke about "the need to raise awareness of the benefits that this agreement has for the people in terms of creating jobs and prosperity." He added that "all the presidents who spoke agreed on the importance of the respective legislative processes."
Regarding the possibility of the entry of new members, the Foreign Minister said he was informed about the interest of many countries in joining the [TPP] agreement. He indicated that it was first necessary, after signing the agreement, to ratify the various conventions and after that process requests from other countries would be met.
He also noted that the TPP has the great advantage of being a window to the future. "Here will be the new standard in international trade, services and investment. A country like Chile, whose prosperity depends on openness to international trade, cannot be excluded from an agreement of this nature to be on the forefront of the future in this regard," he said.
He also said they have met the needs and vulnerable sectors, maintaining that "the negotiation of the TPP extended two additional days because Chile defended their pharmaceutical sector, because we did not cede in the protection of the years required before a generic patent. What we had very clear was the need to defend the country's consumers, who need medication."
Finally, Foreign Minister Muñoz discussed another activity that President Bachelet participated in which was a meeting of the Pacific Alliance with the APEC countries, which was also attended by Colombia. "This meeting was a recognition of Colombia and its aspiration to join APEC, and an instance where several APEC chairs assessed work done by the Pacific Alliance."