Ecuador: Canada seeks to start free-trade talks by year-end
10-27-06
Ecuador: Canada Seeks To Start Free-Trade Talks By Year-End
QUITO -(Dow Jones)- Canada has proposed starting official talks with Ecuador on a bilateral free-trade agreement before the end of 2006, the Andean nation’s Foreign Ministry said Friday in a press statement.
The communique said Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Francisco Carrion and the country’s embassy in Ottawa have been pushing for negotiations with Canada.
Strengthening economic ties with the North American nation is important for Ecuador, which is seeking to diversify its export markets, the Foreign Ministry added.
The statement said that the ministry will work with various business sectors to put together an analysis of the free-trade issue. Setting the start date for talks will require coordination with the future president of Ecuador. Banana magnate Alvaro Noboa and leftist Rafael Correa are the two contenders in a run- off election set for Nov. 26.
– By Maria Elena Verdezoto, Dow Jones Newswires
