With the signing of the memorandum and eight days before the change of government, Ecuador sealed the beginning of negotiations for a new trade agreement, this time with the Dominican Republic, the only process that remains officially open for development in the next regime in which Sonsoles García will be in charge of the foreign trade portfolio.

Canada and Panama are also on the agenda, but so far the official opening of negotiations with these countries has not been finalized, although there was progress in the talks before the declaration of death on the cross last May, which shortened the period of the current regime.

Ecuador and the Dominican Republic have officially begun negotiations to reach a trade agreement

The last conversation with Panama was last March when the then head of the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Julio José Prado, and current Minister Daniel Legarda, who was Deputy Minister at the time, met in Central America. country with Juan Carlos Sosa, the country’s deputy minister of trade and industry, to analyze a possible trade deal. With Canada, on the other hand, it was last April, when negotiations were supposed to start between May and June of this year, but that did not happen.

A total of three agreements were signed during this government: China, South Korea and Costa Rica, one of which remained in wait with Mexico and the one started with the Dominican Republic. With this, according to the Ministry, the country went from a tariff coverage of 38%, at the beginning of the Guillermo Lasso period in May 2021, to 61% at the end of it, including agreements with China, South Korea and Costa Rica. with an increase in customs privileges of 4.8 billion dollars.

According to the analysis of the state portfolio, if the negotiated contracts are finalized in the next Government, the tariff coverage will increase by 24% to 85%, and the benefits represent 6000 million dollars.

Former ministers of foreign trade consider this management to be successful. Iván Ontaneda, who managed that national portfolio from July 2019 to May 2021, highlighted the achievements made in this matter, although he clarified that the results seen in this regime are also part of the efforts started several years ago and are a continuation of the previous work . and remained as state policy. For Ontaneda, exports in a dollarized country like Ecuador are a fundamental pillar for the economy, creating new jobs and generating foreign currency for the country.

Negotiations with Canada on the Ecuadorian trade agreement continue, while signing with China and Korea is expected

“We have to recognize that this state portfolio had continuity in this sense, it was seen that there is a state policy, because the last four or five ministers of foreign trade went in that direction, which is not the government’s or personal agenda. , but the plan of the country, also Ecuador, with looking for opportunities, connecting with top, real strategic partners and allies, we have to admit that it was done in a good way,” Ontaneda pointed out.

He added that the agreements concluded with China, South Korea and Costa Rica make Ecuador much more competitive “outside” and put it on par with its neighbors and competitors such as Colombia and Peru, which already have contracts with these markets for years.

The former minister believes that the new government must continue with the progress made because “time is its biggest enemy”. He added that the priority is the establishment and continuation of the internal productive agenda. “It is very important to have trade agreements, but if the country is not cheaper at home, opportunities and adequate conditions are not created to produce better and be more competitive. Basically, trade agreements are a table with three legs, when the main “Produce well with good quality and good pricing allows us to take advantage of these agreements.”

Negotiation teams

In this sense, Ontaneda proposed the ratification of some technical officers who have been effective in the negotiating teams that have shown effectiveness. He recalled that a few days ago he made this observation to the appointed Minister Sonsoles García at a forum with which they agreed.

Ecuador has three negotiating teams. To negotiate the agreement with China, Jorge Cevallos was brought in as chief negotiator and Vinicio Salgado as chief negotiator at the market access table, along with some technicians. Negotiations with South Korea were led by the undersecretary’s internal negotiating team, headed by Undersecretary Edwin Vásquez as chief negotiator; and in the case of Costa Rica, the undersecretary for origins, Javier Latorre, was in charge as chief negotiator.

Three teams are in charge of negotiating Ecuador’s trade agreements. It is known who their heads are

Francisco Rivadeneira, Minister of Foreign Trade from June 2023 to February 2015, believes that due to the short time the new government will be in office, it is important to keep the current teams. “The majority of the negotiating team is already from the public sector, and especially from the Ministry of Trade, they are not necessarily external, but there are some who are key and must remain part of the team in order to ensure that the upcoming negotiations continue to be successful.” “. Rivadeneira is currently the representative of the Ecuadorian Export and Investment Promotion Corporation (Corpei) in Quito and the Andean region.

However, he clarified that much of Ecuador’s negotiating team already comes from past governments. He also indicated that it is necessary to ensure that those who are not employees of the public sector or the Ministry of Foreign Trade remain in the team. “Because unfortunately there are not many people in the country who have professionalism on how to negotiate trade agreements between countries, and especially in some very specialized disciplines such as services, investment, intellectual property and public procurement issues…,” explained Rivadeneira. He added that parallel work must be done on the institutionalization of the Ecuadorian negotiating team.

Trade exchange between Ecuador and the Dominican Republic

According to figures from the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, trade between Ecuador and the Dominican Republic currently stands at $140 million with continued growth in recent years.

According to data from the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor), in 2022 non-oil trade left a favorable balance of $98 million for Ecuador in the exchange with the Dominican Republic, where exports had a greater preponderance than imports.

Exports reached $121 million, an increase of 14% compared to 2021. This places the Caribbean country as the twentieth destination market for non-oil exports of the country, which currently markets more than 230 export products to that market and more than 370 companies related to export to this country.

Five main products that Ecuador exports to the Dominican Republic:

These products account for 69% of Ecuador’s non-oil exports to the Dominican Republic.

In terms of non-oil imports, from the Caribbean country is expected to grow by 8% in 2022.

Five main products imported from the Dominican Republic:

These products make up 92% of non-oil imports.