The Head of State said that next Saturday (January 9), he would hold a meeting with some representatives of the United States in order to ask for a prompt approval of the agreement. He reiterated, “There are no reasons to keep delaying that agreement”, considering that Colombia is a leader in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism, respect for human rights and protection of the workers.

Bogota, Jan 6 (SP). President Álvaro Uribe Vélez announced that he would hold a meeting, next Saturday (January 9), with some representatives of the United States in order to express the need for a prompt ratification of the Free Trade Agreement. He made that announcement in an interview with Radio Viva de Pasto station (Nariño).

“I have a meeting on Saturday with a group of representatives of the United States and I am going to tell them, being very honest and supportive, that wee need the approval of that agreement as soon as possible”, the President said.

He reiterated, “There are no reasons to keep  delaying that agreement”, considering that Colombia is a  leading country in the fight against drug trafficking as it holds an intense battle against terrorism and guarantees humans rights and the protection of workers.

In addition, President Uribe said that in a conversation with the President of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, he expressed the need for a meeting, on January 18 between the negotiators of the Free Trade Agreement of the European Union and the negotiators of the Latin American bloc.

He specified that the goal of the meeting is to finish, as soon as possible, the trade agreement between the two economic blocs.

The Head of State reminded that for the first semester of 2010, Spain, and its President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will be at the Presidency of the European Union.

On the other side, President Uribe highlighted Colombia’s trade liberalization in the past years. He underlined “the agreement with China, which is already closed: the agreement with India; and now, new agreements with Korea and Singapore”. 

 “We are in that process of liberalization of the Colombian economy, so the economy can have a path to grow over 6 per cent”, President Uribe said.

He highlighted that Colombia will continue searching for new markets and is waiting for the approval of the Free Trade Agreement by the Canadian Congress.