“Europe is a stable market for Ecuador”

The Expo Europa Virtual 2021 trade fair, which will take place from October 19 to 22, 2021, seeks to help in the economic recovery of Ecuador, after the economic crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charles-Michel Geurts, EU Ambassador to Ecuador. Between 2008 and 2013, he worked in human rights as a division deputy director at the European Commission.

As part of the event, participants will be able to attend free virtual conferences and seminars organized by the European Union. These days of seminars have the objective of deepening on issues of the European Union-Ecuador Trade Agreement in order to take better advantage of its implementation. The seminars will also be held between October 19 and 22. More information at: https://expoeuropa.org/seminarios-ue/

Charles-Michel Geurts, EU ambassador to Ecuador, spoke with EXPRESO about the event.

– What is the event looking for?

– It is a major event that seeks to join forces with all the binational chambers of European countries and Ecuador to present Ecuador and the European Union with a great offer of companies, commercial ties, perhaps investments. It is the largest event of its kind in the region. Second, it is very important to do so now when we see very tangible signs of economic recovery in Europe like here in Ecuador, thanks to the successful vaccination process. It is a very opportune time to do this large trade fair between Ecuador, the region and the EU.

– How do you look at Ecuador at the moment? The current regime seeks to boost investment.

– It seems to me that the motto of the new Government: “More Ecuador in the world, more world in Ecuador” corresponds very well to the experience that Ecuador and the European Union have from their trade agreement that is now four years old. It seems to me that in those four years it has been shown that the agreement can be a model of economic opening for the benefit of Ecuador and its trading partner, the EU. We have seen an annual increase in exports from Ecuador to the EU. We have also seen this increase in times of crisis and in the first part of 2021, bilateral trade continues to grow more than 2%. It is win-win.

– What expectations can there be for Ecuadorian products?

– From Ecuador to the EU, we see that it is the largest non-oil export market in the country. We are talking about the emblematic exports that are shrimp, bananas, tuna, cocoa, flowers, for example. That they have maintained and strengthened their position in the European market, including in the time of crisis, in 2020. That means that there is a stable market in the EU for exports from Ecuador because they are products that we do not produce in Europe. Complementarity is one of the essential factors of the trade agreement between our economies. But alongside these emblematic exports we see a diversification of Ecuador’s exports towards products with more added value with a level of transformation. With the help of the Corporation for the Promotion of Exports and Investments (Corpei), We see a diversification of about 200 new products from Ecuador in the EU.