Banner showing people crossing a street with the following caption: "New agenda for a renewed strategic alliance." Photo: CAF.
The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) comprises 33 countries and 600 million inhabitants. The European Union (EU) is made up of 27 countries and has a population of almost 450 million.
Together, CELAC and the EU account for 14% of the world’s population and 21% of the world’s GDP.
The Latin American and Caribbean region accounts for more than 60% of the world’s renewable energy generation, over 50% of the planet’s biodiversity, 14% of the world’s food production, and 45% of the international agri-food trade.
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According to EU Council data, total trade between the EU and CELAC in goods (2022) and services (2021) amounts to €369 billion (+39% since 2013).
Prior to the III CELAC-EU Summit, the EU already had large trade agreements and direct investment channels worth billions of euros with Mexico, Chile and the multilateral entities CARIFORUM (a subgroup of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States), Andean Community, and Mercosur.
In addition, the EU has political, cooperation and trade agreements with 27 of the 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Currently, the EU is Latin America and the Caribbean’s third largest trading partner, behind China and the United States, and the main source of foreign direct investment with an accumulated stock of €800 billion, according to data released by the Andean Development Corporation (CAF).
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
