SINGAPORE: Latam leaders arrive in Singapore ahead of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit

Record ID: 741370

  • Title: SINGAPORE: Latam leaders arrive in Singapore ahead of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit
  • Date: 14th November 2009
  • Summary: SINGAPORE (NOVEMBER 13, 2009) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF CHILEAN PRESIDENT MICHELLE BACHELET ARRIVING AT CEO SUMMIT BACHELET WALKING TO PODIUM BACHELET STANDING AT PODIUM
  • Embargoed: 29th November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Singapore
  • Country: Singapore
  • Topics: International Relations,Economic News
  • Reuters ID: LVA53JS4H2XZHWI9EVAN49LAULU1
  • Story Text: Chilean President Michelle Bachelet arrived in Singapore on Friday (November 13) and addressed company managers and economic experts at a CEO summit ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
    Bachelet joined business and political leaders in saying countries would have to closely coordinate unwinding stimulus packages to avoid derailing a fragile recovery in consumer confidence.
    "The recovery we are witnessing is still very much dependent on the fiscal and monetary stimuli implemented last year and earlier this year. I speak about this because I think we must remain vigilant and extremely careful about the timing of removal of the stimulus measures," she said.
    Peru signed a free trade agreement with Thailand on Friday in the latest agreements between an Asian country and a top Latin American commodity exporter.
    Trade between the countries was $350 million in 2008 and Thailand says the FTA pact would mean zero tariffs on 70 percent of 5,000 items traded between the two countries.
    Thai goods benefiting from the deal include pickup trucks, washing machines and microwave ovens while Peruvian goods include minerals, tin, fishoils and frozen seafood.
    In July, Peru and Singapore signed a free trade agreement, which took effect on Aug. 1, the first pact between the resource-rich Latin American nation and Asia.
    The Inter-American Development Bank chief told Reuters on Friday that Latin America's economies should grow around 3 percent next year as the region bounces back from the global financial crisis.
    Latin America has been battered by slumping demand for its key commodity exports, but Luis Alberto Moreno said counter-cycle measures implemented by governments, such infrastructure spending, were helping the region recover.
    "Some South American countries were the last to feel the impact of the crisis, but among the first to see a recovery and this is a new phenomena in Latin America," he said.
    Latin America is still facing challenges with weak demand from consumers in the United States, which in the past has been one of the region's economic motors, he said.
    The IADB, the top multilateral lender to Latin America and the Caribbean, has said forecasts for the region indicate a contraction of 2 percent this year for the region.
    Moreno said the IADB expected to disperse $12 billion this year and around $10 billion in loans next year, mostly to larger economies such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia.
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