The National Assembly of Ecuador ratified this Wednesday the trade agreement signed last May with China, making it the fourth country in Latin America to launch a free trade agreement with the Asian giant after Chile, Peru and Costa Rica, Report informs via Ecuador Times.
The agreement was ratified by the plenary session of the Assembly with 76 votes in favor, 23 against and 35 abstentions, after a tense session in the chamber that lasted for three hours in which parliamentarians both for and against intervened.
In the previous days, business associations had emphasized the multitude of opportunities that would open up for Ecuador by applying this treaty , while indigenous groups, environmentalists and ecologists showed their fears that it would open the door to the entry of toxic waste and fishing fleets from China to Ecuadorian waters.
The session of the Assembly to discuss this issue resumed this Wednesday after almost a month suspended to dialogue with the different groups and demystify the possible damages that the free trade agreement with China could generate, said the president of the Chamber, the Christian Socialist Henry Kronfle.
“This is not a political issue, it is not a partisan issue, it is an eminently technical issue ,” he added.
