'Quid Pro Quo for Venezuela'
Columnist Thomas Manning
FEATURE STORIES
Ecuador’s New Dam a Sign of China’s Debt Diplomacy

Chinese financing has established an untenable and highly priced dam in the jungles of Ecuador, according to a New York Times report. Other infrastructure and construction projects from China have filled the nation, racking up nigh-insurmountable debt.
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Just like other countries that have fallen victim to the Chinese regime’s debt diplomacy, Ecuador equity will be paying off these debts. To repay the roughly $19 billion debt to China, Ecuador will instead give 80 percent of its petroleum exports to China, which it can then sell at a profit...

The Epoch Times
Why Electric Vehicles Are Gathering Speed in Latin America

In November, 100 brand-new electric buses rolled off a cargo ship from China at the port of San Antonio on the Chilean coast. Their impressive convoy from the coast to the capital, Santiago, where they will be incorporated into the city’s public fleet, was shared widely on Twitteras evidence of where public transportation is headed in Chile — toward 100 percent electrification by 2050, according to the government’s plans.

​The new fleet followed a 2016 deal between Italian energy company Enel and Chinese manufacturer BYD to test two pilot buses which proved to considerably cut costs in comparison with diesel vehicles. They have also been a hit with passengers, with low noise levels and cleaner air inside the vehicles...

The New York Times
'Demented Reef Fish'
Columnist Thomas Manning
DIPLOMATIC, TRADE & CULTURAL NEWS

NZ Ambassador to Chile's term concludes: HE Jacqui Caine (pictured left above) paid a farewell call on Chile's Minister of Agriculture HE Antonio Walker.  Minister Walker thanked Ambassador Caine for her contribution to improving Chilean agriculture and wished her well in the future. 

Photo Centre (from left):  Rhianon Berry, NZ Trade Commissioner; Blake Van Velden, Deputy Head of Mission Chile; HE Jacqui Caine; HE Minister Antonio Walker.

Announcement of new Ambassador to Chile - Foreign Affairs Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters has announced the appointment of career diplomat Linda Te Puni (pictured above) as NZ’s next Ambassador to Chile.  “NZ and Chile enjoy a close and long-standing relationship and Ms Te Puni is very well qualified to continue our work together,” Mr Peters said. 

Mexico’s presidential palace opens its doors to visitors for the first time


​If you plan to take a vacation in Mexico City, you’ll be able to visit the presidential palace, which was previously off-limits to visitors. As part of his austerity drive, new president, Andres Manuel López Obrador, has declared that the sumptuous residence, known as Los Pinos, will become a cultural centre open to the public daily from 10am to 5pm.

The president took office on 1 December 2018, five months after winning a landslide election victory, and opening the palace is part of what he says is a ‘deep and radical’ change in Mexico. Vowing to lead his anti-corruption, pro-austerity drive by example, and promising that he would not change his lifestyle, he has eschewed the presidential residence, jet and security detail, and is also taking a 60% cut in salary. He is expected to move from his regular home in a middle-class neighbourhood into an apartment in the city’s historic centre, and will use the National Palace as his presidential office.

Since it opened to the public, locals and visitors have been pouring in to see the former official residence of the country’s presidents from 1935 to 2018. The 56,000-square-metre building is 14 times larger than the White House in the US, and is located in a section of the capital’s huge Chapultepec park. The houses that can be visited within the enclosure will be Miguel Alemán, López Mateos, Miguel de la Madrid, Venustiano Carranza and Lázaro Cárdenas. The main interest is likely to be in Casa Miguel Alemán, as most of the presidents have lived there apart from Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón, although they did use the space for meetings and visits.   

Report by: Lonely Planet.
New Broom in Mexico is Good News for New Zealand
 Columnist; Thomas Manning

​VIDEO - LATAM/NZ BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
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What is the Economic Outlook for Latin America?


Economic recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has lost some momentum. Near-term growth prospects in LAC are weighed down by tighter global financial conditions and an intensification in trade tensions. The moderating recovery is also underpinned by divergent growth outcomes across the region, as the impact of external headwinds has been amplified by country-specific vulnerabilities, especially in the largest economies...
IMF is Back in Business in Latin America - Just as Neoliberal as Always

Following a prolonged loss of influence in Latin America in the first decade of the 2000's, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is back again, flexing its muscle in Argentina and Mexico, pushing the neoliberal Washington Consensus, says Vijay Prashad
Can the Government afford to spend more?


​​A weekly New Zealand Herald  Videocast  about the NZ economy by Business Editor Liam Dann & Guests. 
 Muy Simpatico, Mr Tabuteau
 Columnist; Thomas Manning
LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
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Growth remains lackluster in the third quarter amid conflicting dynamics

A preliminary estimate revealed that growth in the Latin American economy was unchanged in the third quarter, as uneven dynamics across economies kept activity moderate. FocusEconomics estimates that regional GDP growth (excluding Venezuela) came in at 1.6% year-on-year, matching the second quarter’s reading and one of the worst results seen in the past year and a half. A less favorable external backdrop and political noise likely held back growth, despite an improving labor market...
  

Latin America Business: Best in 2018

Nearly two years after Donald Trump became US President amidst threats to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it now looks like it survived largely intact, albeit with some negative setbacks.  Unlike NAFTA, the USMCA is limited in time. It will take effect in 2020, and be reviewed every six years and could expire in 2036 or extended to 2056, according to an overview in USA Today.
Latin America trade trifecta in sight for New Zealand
Columnist; Thomas Manning

NEWSLETTERS, BLOGS & PRESS RELEASES
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CUBA IN NEW ZEALAND

  1. Embassy of Cuba supports book by Latin American women in New Zealand
  2. In 2019 Cuba celebrates 20 years of diplomatic relations with Aotearoa New Zealand. To commemorate this event, the Cuban Embassy is partnering with Havana Coffee Works to launch a Cuba Photo Contest.
  3. ​On October 22, 2018. Cuban Third Secretary Saimin Fis Abad paid a visit to the city of Blackball, birthplace of the Labor Party in New Zealand.
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​Business News and information from the NZ Government


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​New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, December 2018
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​​LANZBC November 2018 Newsletter

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South America Land Prices Review



​Monthly Newsletter of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce for
​Asia and the Pacific (Spanish Language)



The Bubble Podcast every Friday evening (BUE time) focusing on
​the stories that made the headlines during the week in Argentina. 


exchange rates, stock markets & tenders
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Transpolar flight grows NZ trade opportunities in Latin America
Columnist; Thomas Manning

PUBLISHER & EDITOR
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​'Transpacific Business Digest' © is a free fortnightly E-digest aggregating New Zealand - Latin American Business News, Economic Analysis, Market Reports & Video published by Manning Group Limited and edited by Thomas Manning who has advised on and managed projects for New Zealand companies in Latin America for over 30 years,  Thomas is a former Vice President of the Latin America New Zealand Business Council and is a Buenos Aires Times Columnist who also writes regularly for EMA's BusinessPLus Magazine. Thomas' Linkedin Profile & Media Archive

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With 40 years’ marketplace experience and exports to more than twenty countries from its plant in Rosario, Argentina, Condor Group SRL is a world-class manufacturer with divisions dedicated to industrial power generation, industrial air compressors and pneumatic equipment, and specialized tyre reconstruction for commercial fleet operators.
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