The Emergence of the Pacific Alliance and Implications for Korea

Abstract

In June 2012, four Latin American countries on the Pacific coast (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) declared the establishment of a new economic integration initiative within the region, and consequently launched the Pacific Alliance. Since then, it has been making rapid progress and is expected to open up new horizons in regional economic integration. Under recent circumstances in which existing regional communities, such as MERCOSUR (Southern Cone Common Market) and ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America), are faltering, the Pacific Alliance draws increasing attention from the world as it advocates open regionalism. Of the member countries of the Pacific Alliance, all four have already signed FTAs. The intention of these countries, however, is to deepen existing economic integration through the Pacific Alliance. Narrowing geographical distance by working on the joint project of transportation infrastructure and eliminating cross-border visa requirements to encourage freer movement of human resources are key pillars of their plan.