Slovenia and Peru will do everything in their power to make the EU-Latin America/Caribbean (LAC) summit to be held in Lima during Slovenia's EU presidency next year a success. The two countries made this commitment as Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel held talks in Lima on Tuesday as part of his Latin America tour.
"Both Peru and Slovenia are serious about their international commitments. We will be presiding over the European Union for the first time now, which is why we will make an even greater effort to make the conference a success," Minister Rupel told STA following the first day of talks with Peruvian officials.
The EU-LAC summit, to be held in Lima on 16 and 17 May, will feature 60 countries: 27 EU member states and 33 Latin American and Caribbean nations. While Peru will be responsible for the preparation of the summit logistics-wise, Slovenia as co-chair will share the responsibility for the content.
According to Rupel, Slovenia already has quite some experience in chairing international meetings, while the talks in Lima showed that "we shall have very good partners in Peru".
On the first day of his visit to Peru, Rupel met Prime Minister Jorge de Castillo, Minister of Production Rafael Rey and the head of the Congress Foreign Relations Committee Victor Rolando Sousa Huanambal, who was confident about the success of the Lima summit.
"We can take this responsibility and I'm positive that will will do the job well," the congressman said after meeting Slovenia's foreign minister. According to Huanambal, the summit will also be a big opportunity for Peru to make its debut on the international scene and to present its positions to EU leaders.
De Castillo meanwhile expects the summit to boost relations between the EU and Latin America, in culture, high technology and education as well as business ties, where the prime minister sees considerable potential.
De Castillo also expressed hope for the success of talks on the EU-Andean Community association agreement, which is expected to enhance bilateral economic cooperation. Apart from Peru, this free-trade community also consists of Columbia, Ecuador and Bolivia, while Venezuela is moving out to join the Mercosur group.
In preparing the EU-LAC summit, Slovenia counts on support of other countries. Since it does not have an embassy in Peru, it has made arrangements with France to work closely with the French mission there, Rupel explained.
France and Portugal, the countries to preside over the EU after and before Slovenia, are the countries that Slovenia will cooperate with most, Rupel said. He was quick to add though that it was not Slovenia but the EU which organised the summit, "which means we will be assisted by 26 countries".
Rupel and the Peruvian prime minister also discussed bilateral relations. De Castillo was particularly interested in options for cooperation with the port of Koper. Bilateral trade is moderate and the countries exchanged but EUR 1.4m worth of goods last year.
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