Asamblea de FMI y BM 2015 será en Perú

[Source] : El Siglo De Durango MX

El presidente Ollanta Humala anunció que Perú fue designado sede de la Asamblea Anual del Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) y del Banco Mundial (BM) del año 2015, lo que constituye un reconocimiento a su expansión económica.

En conferencia de prensa en Palacio de Gobierno, el mandatario aclaró que “este evento es uno de los más importantes en el ámbito mundial porque reúne a las economías más importantes del planeta”.

Acompañado del ministro de Economía, Luis Miguel Castilla, y del presidente del Banco Central de Reserva, Julio Velarde, Humala aseguró que la reunión del FMI y BM tiene la misma “importancia” que el Foro de Cooperación Económica Asia Pacífico (APEC).

Haga clic aquí para leer el artículo completo

Calling Latin American’s around the world

Give a few minutes of your day to participate in a survey from Asuntos Del Sur

The survey’s goal is to attract and organize young entrepreneurs in Latin America. Asuntos del Sur is conducting the project they have aptly names “more with less” which seeks to strengthen emerging leaders in Latin America.

The aim is to transfer and share knowledge and experiences of young innovative leaders interested in exchanging their experiences throughout the region, to create a network of interaction between young people with vision throughout the region, and encourage good practices and mutual reinforcement for change.

To this end, Asuntos del Sur has gained the support from the Secretariat General Iberoamericana “Citizenship 2.0″ to take the the initiative of the. Asuntos del Sur are identifying innovative projects in the region that have a low investment requirement for its creation and impact. That is why we would like to know your ideas and experience by telling how your organization, project, project or activity can create added value and sustainable development for the region. Please take a few minutes of your day to answer the questions in the following query.

Vietnam – Agro Exports in Focus

[Source] Written by Bennett A. Reiss Iberico

South Central Vietnam

From the few days I’ve been traveling the Vietnamese countryside (in large part to investigate their agricultural sector), I’ve thus far come to believe Vietnam can grow to become an agricultural power house with the potential similar to many countries in South America.  In today’s world of 7+ billion people, this untapped agro-potential is invaluable.  Especially in the context of the emergence of a 2nd world food crisis within the short span of 5 years (the first being back in 2008).

Vietnam’s agricultural potential, if nurtured in a sustainable and efficient manner could conceivably catalyze Vietnam into becoming a major agricultural center, capable of feeding its own people and exporting food to countries around the world whose geographic limitations inhibit them from doing so themselves.

Despite this website (blog)’s original purpose which was to focus on China and South America, it’s become apparently obvious doing so is nearly impossible without including the rest of Asia (specifically South East Asia), and the rest of Latin America (from Panama up to Mexico and the Caribbean). Also my inherent interest and passion for MicroFinance, which frequent readers probably are aware of.

China South America, from this point forward has officially expanded it’s own horizons and will now include the Pan-Asia and Latin American regions.  Along with the following:

- At times North America, Russia, Australia and New Zealand (Oceania) because of their respective connection and roles in the greater Pacific Region and APEC.

- From Europe, Spain will likely have quite a presence on this site due to its long term influence in the region, FDI, and because of the influx of Spaniards arriving in the region seeking opportunities as Spain’s economy falters.

- Lastly, expect posts from time to tome on any news CSA believes is appropriate for the site involving South-South Cooperation – such as the increasing connections the countries of Brazil, China and India’s have with Africa, India-Latin America, ASEAN – Latin Ameirca, etc.

To conclude, I hope you enjoy my rare, personal on the ground experiences of the places I travel in the ASIA – LATIN AMERICA REGION. I personally think Vietnam is a country worthy to keep tabs on, and to visit of course. Vietnam is a country, which for the first time in living memory of its people that a generation is going to be able to grow up without having to suffer and fight a war.  Come visit this beautiful country, get to know its people, history, and expand your horizons.

To all regular readers please be patient. Normal news flows will return once I’m back in Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon).

Shrimp farms, helping to feed global (and local) demand for sea food.

Ride paddies. Vietnam is the world’s 2nd largest exporter of rice after Thailand.

Do you like chocolate? Vietnam is alao a growing powerhouse in Cacao production.

We do indeed live in an interconnected world. Rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), originally from the Amazon in South America now flourish throughout SE Asia. They also were a major reason the Japanese invaded Vietnam during WWII

Now it’s time to find me some coffee plantations, as Vietnam is also the #2 exporter of coffee beans after Brazil (yes they even top Colombia)

Cruising the South-Central Vietnamese countryside on motorcycle. After about 20 minutes of riding solo and realizing I’d probably kill myself over the course of the next 48 hours I opted to hop on the back seat of a local Vietnamese driver.

Tomorrow my search of the Vietnamese South-Central countryside continues and i’ll find those coffee bean plantations even if it takes me all day!

Double standards – The US in the Americas vs the US in ASEAN

Article written by Bennett A. Reiss Iberico

Author, creator, web master, and manager of ChinaSouthAmerica.com

With all the news coverage of the recent Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia focusing on the CIA’s love of prostitutes it’s a tragedy the issues of the summit aren’t being covered – namely how every nation in the Western Hemisphere, except for the US and Canada expressed their desire to invite Cuba to the summit which the US/ Canada would hear nothing of. Both emphasizing that in order to participate in the summit, or any regional club within the “Americas,” a country must be a Democracy.

Consider this in the context of how the US acts and willingly desires to participate in ASEAN summits of SE Asian nations. All this talk from the Obama Administration and Republican Candidates about the strategic importance of Asia/ the Pacific on the surface makes it an easy story to sell by the media. ASEAN is a club of nations with extreme strategic importance for the US in Asia, and a means in which to protect US interests in the region and check China’s rising influence.

Let me remind the world (readers of this article/ website), ASEAN includes countries such as:

Vietnam – A Communist Country
Laos – A Communist Country
Cambodia – An Absolute Monarchy (arguably in transition to a Constitutional Monarchy or Democracy)
Brunei – An Absolute Monarchy

So it’s okay to talk, trade, forge geo-political and military ties with nations in this group in ASIA… but when we talk about the “Americas,” (North and South America), the same standards don’t apply? Why do we listen, give attention and forge ties with these nations mentioned above that are not “Democracies,” and thereafter shut the door on Cuba? Perhaps it has something to do with the wealthy Cuban Lobbyists’ in Miami…

Food for thought, although unfortunately it is a topic no major media outlet around the world feels is worthy to address, question and bring to people’s attention.

~ Bennett A. Reiss Iberico

NYT: Latin America Looks at West’s Fiscal Crises, and Sees Its Own Past

RIO DE JANEIRO — Sometimes it comes in the form of a news dispatch, like the item from Milan explaining how Italians fret about “the spread,” a term used to refer to the gap between their high borrowing costs and the lower interest rates for Germany.

The angst has included protests in Spain, images of rioters in London or the police using pepper spray to disperse demonstrators in California.

And, of course, there is the steady drip of reports focusing on default fears in Greece.

For many months now, Latin Americans have been monitoring the constant drumbeat of crises in developed countries with bewilderment, irony and, yes, even a bit of schadenfreude. To them, Europe and the United States are displaying problems once associated with their region, which, not long ago, was a perennial champion in financial crises and bailouts.

Click here to read the full article from the NYT.com

South Park – The Last of the Meheecans

Img: Courtesy of Comedy Central (Viacom)

Reality? No… but no less entertaining and ripe with “subtle messages.”  I also recall reading in roughly late Aug/ early Sept a headline scroll on the bottom of Boomberg TV — “Mexicans buy back Texas, flock to real estate markets as housing prices drop and the Mexican Peso continues to appreciates.”

If you like satire mixed with crude, over-top humor about current events… particularly US Domestic Immigration Policy and the state of the US Economy, definitely check out this link to the latest episode of South Park.

ECLAC Sees Favorable Conditions for L.America-China Relations

The current economic and trade conditions in the Latin American and Caribbean region are highly favorable to furthering its trade and investment relations with China and the Asia-Pacific, a UN official said Friday.

“China has become a strategic trade partner for Latin America and the Caribbean, and there are many opportunities to achieve export and investment agreements in fields such as mining, engineering, agriculture, infrastructure, science and technology,” said Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean (ECLAC).

Barcena made the remarks while presenting a report titled “The People’s Republic of China and Latin America and the Caribbean: Towards a new phase in the economic and trade link” to mark Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to the region.

The report says China is the main destination of Brazilian and Chilean exports and the second largest for Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru and Venezuela, but the region’s export basket to China remains centered on raw materials.

“It is possible and necessary to advance on trade diversification, the creation of a trade alliance between the Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean, and to increase investment between both parties and enhance cooperation in innovation, education, science and technology,” Barcena said.

Click here to read the full article direct from http://english.cri.cn

CSA – Related News Links of the Day

Ecopetrol (of Colombia) targets Asian Oil Sales – Bloomberg

Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL), the Colombian oil producer which expects to more than double output this decade, said it plans to ship a greater share of its crude to Asia as growing demand in China competes for supplies with the U.S.

The company may no longer ship the majority of its crude to the U.S. in 10 years because Asia sales will be more profitable, Chief Executive Officer Javier Gutierrez said yesterday in an interview in Bogota. A pipeline the company is weighing that would carry oil to a new port on the Pacific coast to supply Asian refineries may also attract Chinese investment, he said.  Click the link above to access to the full article direct from Blooomberg

Tycoon Clash Means Less Money for Mexico Billionaires as Consumers Benefit – Bloomberg

An escalating confrontation between Carlos Slim and two fellow billionaires is driving prices lower for phone, Internet and TV services in Mexico, a boon for consumers that could boost the nation’s economy.

TV and mobile-phone carriers controlled by Ricardo Salinas and Emilio Azcarraga are pushing into Slim’s turf, and he is responding with better deals for consumers. Slim’s Telefonos de Mexico SAB teamed up in April with a satellite carrier to offer services for a discount, and his America Movil SAB doubled the amount of numbers wireless users can call at no extra charge. Click the link above to access to the full article direct from Blooomberg

Factbox: Chinese banks’ acquisitions over the past five years - Reuters

A valuable bridge between Latin America and China

[Source] - Andean Development Corporation

• The CAF President, accompanied by an official delegation, visited the Asian country to deepen trade and investment links between Latin America and China.

• The Corporation is playing its characteristic catalytic role attracting funds from other latitudes for the progress of the region.

CAF President & CEO Enrique Garcia visited Peking, accompanied by a delegation from the Corporation, with the objective of deepening trade and investment ties between Latin America and China.

The working agenda included CAF participation in the Latin America-China Investors Forum (LA-CIF), organized by Latin Finance Magazine, along with a series of meetings with China Development Bank (CDB), EximChina, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and Sinocapital, among others.

Promoting investment and trade between the two regions

At the LA-CIF Forum, CAF President Garcia, along with the president of HSBC China, Richard Yorke, and the deputy governor of the China Development Bank, Jian Gao, was one of the keynote speakers at the inaugural session which was attended by a large number of business leaders, bankers, investors, government representatives, academics and media.

During his remarks, Garcia spoke of the important role that China is playing in the current international economic and financial situation and its contributions to mitigating the effects of the global crisis. He emphasized the complementarity of the economies of the two regions and the positive impact which China’s accelerated growth has had on Latin American investments and exports.

He underlined the enormous potential of bi-regional relations and CAF’s interest in deepening them with a view to building a valuable bridge between Latin America and China. “The Corporation is committed to supporting Latin American countries in opening of new horizons in Asia and strengthening a long-term integrated development agenda. Its catalytic role will help attract new actors to channel additional resources, both economic and technological, in order to achieve sustained development and move toward stronger economies stimulated by competitive advantages.”

China Development Bank: a strategically

One of the most important high-level meetings held by the mission was with the China Development Bank Corporation (CDB), represented by its Governor Chen Yuan.

The two institutions, based on the excellent level of relations and successful joint work which has led to increased knowledge of China and of Latin America, agreed to sign a new cooperation agreement in the near future. The accord will define new lines of credit; move forward with cofinancing operations to benefit small, medium-sized and large enterprises; set up a trust fund; and promote exchange of personnel.

“Through CAF we have come to know more about Latin America,” Governor Yuan said. “We recognize the potential which the region represents and we have worked hard to make this into real cooperation. CAF is the best partner for us.”

Garcia said bilateral relations began in 2006, following identification of a series of common interests. He expressed his satisfaction that CAF had contributed to the important work which CDB is doing in Latin America, and the joint financing of projects in the region. “Our activities during this visit to China – the CAF president concluded – mean we are playing a catalytic role by contributing ideas and resources from other regions in favor of regional development.”

New steps in expanding relations with China Eximbank

As part of its strategy of deepening relations with Asia, the CAF mission also met with the Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) which has become an important source of financing for capital goods, technology and infrastructure projects around the world.

At the meeting, the two institutions reaffirmed their interest in working jointly in areas of common interest. They agreed to sign a framework cooperation agreement in the near future which will cover lines of credit and joint operations with a view to actively promoting trade and investment initiatives in the framework of horizontal cooperation between developing countries.

China, Costa Rica make progress in free trade talks – AFP

SAN JOSE — China and Costa Rica concluded the fourth round of negotiations in Beijing aimed at reaching a free trade agreement, according to the foreign trade ministry.

Costa Rica — which gave up six decades of ties with Taiwan in favor of China two years ago — is the third Latin American country to negotiate a free trade deal with China, after Chile and Peru.

In the round of talks that ended Thursday agreements were reached for more than 90 percent of each country’s exports, the trade ministry said.

Costa Rican exports include coffee, bananas, fruit juices, cigars, pork, beef and chicken, said Costa Rican chief negotiator Fernando Ocampo…

Click here to access the full article from AFP