EXCLUSIVE: Colombia eyes trade deal with UAE by end-2010

TRADE DEAL: Colombia hopes to sign a free trade agreement with the UAE by the end of 2010.

Colombia is to open its first embassy in the Gulf in Abu Dhabi in November, and hopes to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the UAE by the end of next year.

In an exclusive interview, Colombian vice president Francisco Santos told Arabian Business that the Gulf represents one of the priority markets for Colombia, South America’s fourth-largest economy.

“I have pushed really hard to get the embassy open,” he said. “It will be a very commercial embassy for all the countries in the Gulf and will be designed to get political and economic relations flowing.”

Santos expressed optimism that the embassy opening would lead to an agreement ensuring closer trade ties by the end of 2010.

“The minute we start negotiating [the FTA] will be very quick,” he said. “We don’t have a timetable for negotiations, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something was done before the end of 2010.”

Colombia is currently in the process of negotiating a number of FTAs around the world, including with the US and EU.

Santos also told Arabian Business that he expected UAE airlines to launch cargo flights between the two countries before the end of 2010, to be followed by passenger routes in 2012.

Last November, the UAE signed an Air Services Agreement with Colombia, paving the way for Etihad Airways and Emirates Airline, as well as Colombian carriers, to open routes between the two nations.

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