Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso will travel to Costa Rica next Wednesday to meet his Costa Rican colleague, Rodrigo Chaves, and sign a trade agreement between the two countries.
The Presidential House of Costa Rica announced this Monday that Lasso will be in Costa Rica on Wednesday, he will meet Chaves, with whom he will give a press conference, and later the signing of the bilateral trade association agreement will take place.
On December 19, Costa Rica and Ecuador successfully concluded negotiations for a free trade agreement, a process that began last August and took four rounds of talks.
After signing on Wednesday, the trade deal must be approved by each country’s legislature to enter into force.
As reported by the Costa Rican government, the agreement provides an “adequate balance that reasonably meets the interests of both parties” and will allow free trade for “more than 90% of products”.
The Trade Association Agreement between Costa Rica and Ecuador also includes provisions relating to gender equity, good regulatory practices and the strengthening of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
This will be Costa Rica’s fourth free trade agreement with a South American country, as it is already in force with Colombia, Peru and Chile.
Official data indicates that trade between Costa Rica and Ecuador in 2021 reached $74.6 million, of which 49.8 million corresponds to Costa Rican exports and 24.8 to Ecuadorian exports.
The main export products from Costa Rica to Ecuador are scrap metal, medicines, electronic materials, tires, cardboard and another series of industrial materials.
For its part, Ecuador sells Costa Rica mainly prepared and preserved fish, fresh fish, steel wire, medicines, textiles, shrimp, among others.