Newly created Cabinet-level position emphasizes Ecuador's priority focus
on trade relations with U.S.A.
Ecuador's Minister
of Foreign Trade, Mr. Francisco Rivadeneira, will soon begin a series of
meetings with American political and business leaders. His visit to Chicago on
October 9 is one of the major stops on his American tour. Mr. Rivadeneira's role
as Minister of Foreign Trade is a newly created, cabinet level position,
reporting directly to President Rafael Correa. As a member
of President Correa's cabinet, Mr. Rivadeneira has a crucial role in improving
and expanding trade relations with the United States, which is Ecuador's largest
trading partner. He will be accompanied on his Chicago visit by Ecuadorian
Ambassador to the United States, Ms. Nathalie Cely.
Finalizing
trade agreements with United States
Mr. Rivadeneira's
top priority with regard to the United States is to finalize the renewal process
of the trade preferences agreements which expired earlier this year and obtain
the inclusion of key Ecuadorian export products such as artichokes, broccoli and
roses in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) agreement, which gives
trade preferences to developing countries including Ecuador, and eliminates
requirements for American importers to pay duties on these goods.
Secondly, the
Minister of Foreign Trade hopes to encourage the United States to re-start
bilateral trade agreement negotiations. Strengthening Economic Initiatives with
ChicagoAnother key goal for Mr. Rivadeneira is to continue to generate momentum
for a number of economic initiatives that are already underway, involving the
State of Illinois and the City of Chicago.
Among the meetings
scheduled are a meeting with members of Governor Pat Quinn's Department of
Economic Development and Trade as well as meetings with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's
staff, leaders of the Chicago Department of Aviation, and the Chicagoland
Chamber of Commerce. Topics on the agenda include the opening of the new Chicago
Perishable Center early next year, which will enable Ecuador to fly fresh
imported perishable goods directly to Chicago.
Additionally, Mr.
Rivadeneira will be finalizing "sister city" agreements with the City of Chicago
and Quito, which is the capital city of Ecuador, and a "sister airport"
agreement between Chicago O'Hare and Mariscal Sucre International Airport near
Quito.
"These are important
new developments that will positively impact both cities," said Mr. Rivadeneira.
"We are creating many cooperative relationships that include educational
opportunity, import and export arrangements and business and financial
investment. We are thrilled at the opportunities that are emerging and I'm
looking forward to formalizing many of these agreements while I am in Chicago."
Mr. Rivadeneira also
will address several members of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs as well as
economic and foreign trade experts at a luncheon. He also hopes to meet with the
top executives of Thoughtworks, a Chicago-based high-tech company, in addition
to several Chicago based companies that do business with Ecuador in the
construction, medical, transportation and infrastructure sectors of Ecuador.
Thoughtworks recently launched operations in Quito, citing the highly skilled
technical workforce as their reason for opening operations there.
Ecuador's
vision for partnership with the United States
While in Chicago,
the Minister of Foreign Trade wants to present his vision for significant
expansion of trade between Ecuador and the United States and the opening of
opportunities for American investment in Ecuador. "Our trade relationship with
the United States is extremely important," said Mr. Rivadeneira. "We will be
discussing important matters such as enabling increased exportation of
Ecuadorian products to the United States. We also want to emphasize that Ecuador
should be high on the list of attractive platforms for investment by American
businesses. South America is the fastest-growing region in the world, according
to the International Monetary Fund. The region is growing at almost three times
the rate of the rest of the world."
Mr. Rivadeneira
plans to make the case that there are many opportunities for American investment
in Ecuador, and the country welcomes this investment. "We want the American
business community to know we are an increasingly attractive business hub for
American companies in other industries who want to expand into the South
American marketplace," he said. "Ecuador has not been aggressive enough in
telling this story in America, but now we are committed to getting the message
out to the business community and the public."
Thirty-eight (38)
percent of all Ecuadorian exports come to the United States. Of particular note
are agricultural products such as artichokes, quinoa, bananas, broccoli and
chocolate, floral products including the world's best roses, and a variety of
fresh fish, including tuna. "Ecuador's agricultural products are of extremely
high quality and are sold throughout the United States," said Mr. Rivadeneira.
The new
Chicago Perishable Center will be an economic boost to Chicago and
Ecuador
Ecuadorian imports
will get a strong boost in early 2014 when a new state-of-the art Chicago
Perishable Center at O'Hare Airport will be launched. The Center represents the
first time in decades that airlines will be able to fly perishable goods
directly to Chicago. Ecuador's Commercial Office in Chicago has played a pivotal
role in helping the Chicago Perishable Center to get underway because many of
Ecuador's products, such as roses, will be shipped directly to Chicago from
Ecuador. The products will arrive in the Midwest in fresher condition, which
means that they will have a longer shelf life and be much more accessible to
other markets in the Midwest and Canada, where there will be a high demand.
About
Ecuador's Economy
The Ecuadorian
government has been making consistently positive moves to strengthen the middle
class and ensure economic stability. Besides governmental investments in a
number of key areas that benefit average Ecuadorians, Ecuador also is increasing
educational opportunity for its citizens by forging educational partnerships
with American colleges and universities. Extreme poverty has fallen from 40
percent in 2001 to 17 percent in 2011. Unemployment has been trending down from
7.6 percent in 2010 to 4.8 percent in 2012. Ecuador's currency is the U.S.
Dollar. Between 2007 and 2012 the Ecuadorian economy grew at an annual average
of 4.3 percent, which was above the Latin American/Caribbean average of 3.5
percent according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean.
About Mr.
Francisco Rivadeneira, Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Trade
Mr. Rivadeneira
earned a Master's degree in International Economics from the Institut des Hautes
Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland and also a Master's Degree in
International Negotiations from Simon Bolivar Andean University in Ecuador. He
is a professor at several Ecuadorian universities. From 2010-2013, he served as
Vice-Minister on Foreign Trade and Economic Integration for Ecuador. He also has
extensive private sector experience with Citibank N.A. Quito-Ecuador and the
Export and Investment Promotion Corporation (CORPEI). He is fluent in English
and French as well as his native Spanish.
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