The approval of the Free Trade Agreement, will allow Colombia to overcome poverty, build equity, have a dynamic economy and integrate the country to the largest economies of the world, said President Uribe who had a meeting with President of the Senate of Canada Noel A. Kinsella on Thursday in Ottawa.

Ottawa, Canada, June 11 (SP). President Álvaro Uribe Vélez looked confident that the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and Canada will be approved, considering that his visit to that country has shown “a positive evolution” in that way.

“I should not, as President of the Republic, speak in advance, but if you insist, I think that there is a positive evolution, that makes me confident that some time we will have the approval of this agreement with Canada”, Uribe Vélez said to the press, before his meeting with the President of the Canadian Senate, Noel A. Kinsella.

The Head of State reminded that there have been negotiations for this agreement since 2002, and now it has an immense support from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“I am confident about this approval, which is very important to have more investment in Colombia. We can not, with 46 million people, with all that poverty, with so many problems, to get locked in our country, isolated from the world’s economy, that is why we make this efforts”, he said.

The President reminded that his government has moved forward in different integration agreements with the Andean - Mercosur Community, Chile, Central American countries, United States and now they are concluding negotiations with the European Union.

“We have signed agreements to eliminate double tax paying, to promote investment, a recent investment protection agreement with China, we have closed negotiations with India, we also negotiated with Switzerland and the European Federation of Commerce”, he added.

The Leader also said that there is a group of citizens who are against this type of agreements, and that is why they are trying to discredit the Government.

“There is a group of Colombian citizens who have the systematic goal of opposing this kind of agreements, they try to discredit the efforts of the Government and use this discredit to prevent the approval of the agreements. Then, with a lot of patience, we must insist in the meanings of these agreements, have arguments, refute hypothesis, explain, and that is what we are doing”, he finished.