The European Union has announced plans to invest more than 45,000 million euros in Latin America and the Caribbean.

President of the European Commission, Ursula van der LeyenHe announced on Monday European union They will invest more 45,000 million euros in Latin America and the Caribbean Through the European project Global gateway.

“From clean hydrogen to critical raw materials, from the expansion of high-performance data cable networks to the production of cutting-edge RNA vaccines, more than 135 projects are already in the starting line,” he opened the roundtable. with political and business leaders ahead of the EU-CELAC summit in Brussels this Monday and Tuesday.

The head of community management emphasized Europe and the Latin American and Caribbean region Together they must agree on which sectors and value chains should be prioritized. As well as the best way to leverage these investments with technical support, standards and capabilities.

Van der Leyen emphasized that the Global Gateway project “doesn’t just have the scale to make a difference.” Reflects a “fresh approach” when investing in large projects Infrastructure “will have added value in Latin America and the Caribbean” as European investments focus on “creating local value chains”.

The Commission President cited clean hydrogen and the critical raw materials industry as examples of investment potential areas where the EU and the Latin American and Caribbean region have “a common interest and shared ideas”.

The European union It wants to consolidate its approach Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) despite differences in the Russian invasion Ukraine It threatens to tarnish the first summit of the leaders of the two regions since 2015.

Appointed this Monday and Tuesday Brussels It’s called the pinnacle of what they call social capital “The Year of Latin America”, With a clear economic and political agenda for the region and recent visits by European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen.

It aims to end the disconnect with European and Latin American leaders and the region Committed to holding high-level summits every two years, With the idea that the form will become a regular one in contact between the two continents. “It should be part of the DNA on both sides of the Atlantic,” summed up a senior EU official, after the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy. Joseph Borrell, That was warned a few weeks ago Europe It has “neglected” relations with Latin America in recent years.

To do this, it will start Mechanism of dialogue between civil servants and foreign ministers This facilitates the commitment to hold biennial leaders’ summits to assess relationships and outline a road map.

(with information from EFE)

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