Following the signing of a trade association agreement with Costa Rica on March 1, 2023, China continues on Ecuador’s agenda and although there is no date yet for the signing of the agreement, progress is being made in the legal review and translation of the texts.

97% of the export supply from Ecuador to Costa Rica will benefit from the trade agreement

Ecuador’s embassy in China reported a meeting held by the chief negotiators of both countries on February 16 and that the two sides confirmed the end of negotiations and that their internal procedures will be implemented, “trying to officially sign a free trade agreement as soon as possible.

Since then, progress has been made in this process, in the technical work to obtain texts and translations, the vice-president of the Ministry of Foreign Trade pointed out.

“Due to the absence of a trade agreement, in the last 25 years we have practically continued to export the same to China”

Negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement between Ecuador and China began in February 2022, and were technically completed in ten months. This agreement focuses on the reduction of tariffs that enable access to markets, and also includes various disciplines such as rules of origin, improvement of customs procedures and trade facilitation, trade defense, protocols for sanitary and phytosanitary measures, reduction of technical barriers to trade. , investment cooperation, promotion of electronic commerce, competition, transparency, dispute settlement and economic cooperation.

We are also in the final stages of a trade agreement with Korea. Ecuador’s negotiating team will travel to Seoul in April for the final round of talks, Production Minister Julio José Prado said.

Prado received Ambassador Kang Daesoo on February 26, with whom they discussed progress in economic cooperation, investments and market opportunities for 50 million consumers.

What each market represents

Costa Rica It was the 38th non-oil export destination from Ecuador in 2022. About 284 products are sent there, the main ones being canned tuna, paper, cardboard and products thereof, fishery products and crustaceans, food preparations and machinery, and electrical appliances and more of 120 companies are related to exports to that country, reports the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor).

In 2022, non-oil trade between Ecuador and Costa Rica left an unfavorable balance of $40 million. Exports reached USD 32 million, an increase of 50% compared to 2021. Imports reached USD 72 million, an increase of 23%. Pharmaceutical products, iron and steel foundries, machines and mechanical devices, paper, cardboard and products, as well as rubber and rubber products are imported.

According to Fedexpor, export opportunities to a market like Costa Rica are part of the opportunity to position the country’s non-traditional, agro-industrial and especially manufacturing offer. Currently, 54% of non-oil and non-mining exports to Costa Rica are industrial products.

Lead and copper are displacing natural flowers at the ‘top’ of Ecuadorian exports

China closed 2022 as the main destination for Ecuadorian non-oil exports with $5.706 million. It is a market with more than 1400 million consumers.

The entry into force of this trade agreement will provide preferential access for 99% of Ecuador’s current exports to China, and the Ministry of Production highlighted, among others, mainly agricultural and agro-industrial products such as shrimp, bananas, roses and flowers, cocoa, coffee. those main, but also non-traditional products such as pitahaya, pineapple, mango, blueberries, quinoa, processed food, fresh and canned fruit.

In 2022, the volume of bilateral trade between China and Ecuador will reach 13,000 million dollars, which is a record and an increase compared to the previous year of almost 20%, reports the Embassy of Ecuador in China.

Korea It was the 18th destination of Ecuador’s non-oil exports to the world in 2021 and is the first Asian country with which Ecuador has begun negotiations to reach a trade agreement. This market represents a population of 51.3 million and a GDP per capita of $32,143.

The main non-oil exports from Ecuador to Korea are shrimp, scrap metal, bananas, fishmeal, other metal products, cocoa and banana products. As for products that have the potential to be exported to Korea, they are rafts, chocolate bars, specialty coffee, chilled and frozen dorado, broccoli, frozen swordfish, vegetable snacks and cocoa beans.