Costa Rica Ready To
Begin China Free-Trade
Talks
Costa Rica is prepared
to negotiate a free
trade deal with China
next year, Costa Rica's
foreign trade minister
said Monday ahead of a
visit by Chinese
President Hu Jintao next
week.
"The ministry now has
enough criteria" to
support negotiating a
free trade deal with
China, Marco Vinicio
Ruiz told journalists,
adding that the decision
could be announced next
Monday to coincide with
Hu's presence, in the
highest-level visit by a
Chinese official to the
country.
Ruiz dismissed fears
from local businesses of
an invasion of Chinese
products on the tiny
Costa Rican market under
a free trade deal.
"It would be difficult
for more products to
enter than already
enter" from China, Ruiz
said, underlining the
potential Chinese market
of 1.3 billion people
and China's GDP that has
grown an average of 9%
annually in recent
years.
The trade balance has
favored Costa Rica up
until now, with us$848
million of exports last
year, compared with
us$763 million of
Chinese imports.
More than 90% of Costa
Rica's current exports
to China are in
integrated electronic
circuits, but the
country also exports
coffee, fruit and
vegetables, jams,
leather goods, switches
and semi-conductors.
China, meanwhile,
exports products
including textiles,
footwear, iron and
steel, plastic,
machinery and equipment,
vehicles and furniture.
A trade deal would
increase Chinese imports
by 10%, and exports to
China by 16%, the
minister said, adding
that he would like to
begin negotiations in
the first quarter of
2009.
Costa Rica, the only
Central American country
to hold diplomatic
relations with China
rather than Taiwan,
would be the third Latin
American country to
negotiate a free trade
deal with China, after
Chile and Peru, which
hasn't yet concluded its
accord.
Costa Rica broke off
more than 60 years of
relations with Taiwan
when it began diplomatic
ties with China on June
1, 2007. |
