It was organized by the Institute of Latin America Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Beijing in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC based in Santiago), the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, the China Institute of International Studies, the China Foundation of International Studies and United Nations. Roberto Escalante Semerena, Secretary-General of the Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education of Latin America and the Caribbean (UDUAL) also participated in the event.
The event was sponsored by the foreign ministries of Mexico (current president of CELAC) and China. Experts, officials and entrepreneurs from both sides participated.
The Latin Americans had expressed appreciation to China which had given to the region 241 million doses of covid vaccine out of the total Chinese supply of 946 million doses to the world.
The academic forum and thinktank tank forum are part of the larger China-CELAC Forum established in 2014. These hold meetings at various levels and in different subjects as follows:
Summit Meeting
Meeting of National Coordinators
Dialogue of Foreign Ministers of China and the "Quartet" of CELAC
Subforums in Specific Fields
- China-LAC Agricultural Ministers’Forum
- China-LAC Scientific and Technological Innovation Forum
- China-LAC Business Summit
- China-LAC Think-Tanks Forum
- China-LAC Young Political Leaders' Forum
- China-LAC Young Scientists Exchange Program”
- China-LAC Infrastructure Cooperation Forum
- China-Latin America and Caribbean Region People-to-People Friendship Forum
- China-CELAC Political Parties Forum
- China-LAC Legal Forum
- China-LAC Local Governments Cooperation Forum
- China-LAC People-to-People Friendship Forum
- China-LAC Cultural Classics Translation Program
- China-LAC Civilization Dialogue Mechanism
In July, 2014, President Xi Jinping announced that China would provide CELAC countries with 6,000 governmental scholarships, 6,000 training opportunities and 400 opportunities for on-the-job master degree programs in China between 2015 and 2019. In 2015, China officially launched the ten-year training program for 1000 young leaders from both sides entitled the “Future Bridge”.
By the end of 2015, China has opened 39 Confucius Institutes and 18 Confucius Classrooms in 20 LAC countries. There are more than 100,000 Latin American students enrolled in the Chinese language and culture programs of the Institute.
Detailed, clear and impressive information on China-CELAC activities are given in the link
http://www.chinacelacforum.org/eng/ltjj_1/P020161207421177845816.pdf
These elaborate structures, regular meetings and systematic follow up are done mainly by the Chinese side who take the initiative and finance the projects and activities.
India held its first Indo-CELAC Troika Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi in August 2012, within a year after the formation of CELAC in December 2011. In fact, the CELAC Troika visited New Delhi before Beijing. In this meeting, the two sides agreed to set up a India-CELC Business Council and a India-CELAC CEOs Forum, Energy Forum, Agriculture Forum and Science Forum. There have been a few more meetings at the level of foreign ministers during the Un General Assembly. But India has not sustained its engagement with CELAC in the way China has done so impressively and comprehensively.
China's trade with the region in 2020 was 315 billion dollars as against India’s trade of 28.8 billion dollars. China has given credit of 160 billion dollars while India’s credit is just under 500 million. China’s investment in the region is 110 billion dollars which is 11 times bigger than Indian investment of about 10 billion.
Obviously India cannot ever hope to match the Chinese scale in trade, investment and credit. But India can certainly learn from the way the Chinese cultivate Latin America seriously and systematically through so many channels and intense engagement.
The Latin Americans are keen for partnership with India as part of their strategic policy to reduce over dependence on China and diversification. They are appreciative of India's annual supply of a billion dollars of affordable generic medicines which has helped reduce the cost of healthcare of the Latin American people and governments. They are impressed by the 10 billion dollar Indian investment and especially employment of 35000 Latin American staff in the two dozen Indian IT companies operating in the region. India has become a top export destination for Latin America in recent years.
It is heartening to see that the Ministry of External Affairs of India is attaching more importance to the region in recent years and has taken a number of initiatives to reach out to the region. There have been a number of visits of Indian dignitaries, ministers and officials covering all the countries in the region. India has increased its technical assistance and development partnership. India has just opened two more embassies in Paraguay and Dominican Republic adding to the ten embassies in the 19 countries of the region.
More things for consideration by MEA:
-Revive India-CELAC engagement besides proactive subregional interactions with Mercosur, Pacific Alliance and Central American SICA group.
-open embassies in Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador.
-Increase the strength of diplomatic missions in the region. At the moment most embassies operate with one and half diplomats..ambassador plus a trainee diplomat
- set up cultural centres in more Latin American countries to project soft power. At the moment, only Brazil and Mexico have Indian cultural centres.
- persuade the Commerce Ministry to revive its Focus LAC programme which had helped in the past in encouraging and supporting Indian exporters to explore the business opportunities in Latin America.
-The annual India-LAC Business Conclave needs to be scaled up and organised regularly by pooling and coordinating the efforts of CII and FICCI and other trade bodies and export promotion councils with substantial financial investment by the government.
-Announce a credit of a billion dollars to the region spread over 5 years
-Join the InterAmerican Development Bank so that Indian companies can participate in their projects
-sign FTAs with Mexico, Colombia and Peru which are major destinations for India’s exports in the region
- encourage Indian universities and thinktanks to open Latin America study centres and Spanish and Portuguese language studies. China has over 60 centres to study Latin America. Spanish language departments in Chinese universities have jumped from 12 in 2000 to more than 80. There is only one (Goa) university in India which has a Latin America studies centre. There are, however, a few good quality Spanish language courses run by universities and private institutes.
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