EU to pump in $50b in Latin America, Caribbean

BRUSSELS — The European Union committed on Monday to investing over 45 billion euros ($50.6 billion) to support the bloc's reinforced partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean until 2027.

The EU's new Global Gateway Investment Agenda was presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a roundtable meeting on the sidelines of the third summit of the EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC, that ends on Tuesday.

The summit is co-chaired by European Council President Charles Michel and Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The previous EU-CELAC was held in 2015, when the leaders agreed to work together "for more prosperous and inclusive societies".The first EU-CELAC summit took place in the Chilean capital Santiago in 2013, focusing on trade collaboration and the promotion of investments in social and environmental quality.

"We shaped a high-quality investment agenda together to the benefit of both our regions. We agreed on sectors and value chains to prioritize, from clean energy and critical raw materials to health and education. And it's not just about how much we are spending, but also how we are investing," von der Leyen told summit participants.

The EU will work with its Latin American and Caribbean partners on critical raw materials, such as lithium, in Argentina and Chile, while collaborating with the Brazilian government and the EU private sector to expand telecom networks in the Amazon region. In Costa Rica, the EU will participate in the electrification of public transport and participate in the construction of a metro line in Colombia.

It will also join in the deployment of 5G services to reach island-wide broadband access in Jamaica and take part in the electricity network upgrade in Paraguay.

During the summit, leaders are expected to address a wide range of topics with a view to further strengthen the EU-CELAC partnership, including enhanced multilateral cooperation for global peace and stability, trade and investment, economic recovery, efforts to combat climate change, research and innovation, and justice and security for citizens.

Despite reinforced partnership, Latin American and Caribbean leaders brought century-old criminations over colonialism and slavery across the Atlantic to the EU's headquarters in Brussels, and added present-day complaints that Europe still does not get how to treat former colonies as equal partners in the 21st century.

Xinhua - Agencies