Pacific Alliance - Highway to Prosperity?

Inaugurated with the Lima Declaration - promoting the free circulation of goods, services and people - the Pacific Alliance is a Latin American trade bloc which comprises Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru with Costa Rica and Panama in the process applying for membership. With over 40 countries with Observer status, and 3 out of 4 of in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the bloc is claiming an importance rivalling the more established Mercosur (Common Marker of the South) anchored by Brazil. Mexico as the cornerstone of the bloc which has 37% of Latin America’s population, 35% of its total GDP, 46% of its exports and 50% of its imports. This morning we ask how Malaysia fits into a bloc that seeks actively to engage with Asia.