Colombia, Venezuela to negotiate free trade
Buenos Aires Herald | 16 Aug 2010
Colombia, Venezuela to negotiate free trade
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos unveiled that during the meeting he had with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez they agreed to continue with the creation of a judicial frame to allow free commerce between both countries.
"We have to negotiate a judicial frame that will allow the free trade between both countries," the Head of State assured during the first day of the "Accord for Prosperity" held at Bucaramanga City.
Santos reminded that Venezuela decided to leave the Andean Community (CAN), that is the reason why they need to create a mechanism for their trading affairs.
The Colombian President highlighted the importance of the Venezuelan market for Colombia after Caracas suspended every commercial activity with Bogotá a year ago.
"I told Chávez that in my opinion, recovering that market has a special value: When the Free Commerce Treaty was signed with Venezuela, the export levels to that country grew. It’s a very important market for us," he continued.
Santos invited the Colombian businessmen to continue looking for international markets for their products, and also recommended them to keep working to recover the Venezuelan market.
