On April 19th, in Brasilia – DF, ALADI Secretary-General, Doctor Didier Opertti Badán, participates in the First Meeting of Foreign Secretaries, which was called within the framework of the works for creating the South-American Community of Nations.

The initiative to creating such Community came up in year 2000, during a First Presidential Summit that took place in Brazil, and was ratified by a similar meeting that took place in 2002, in Ecuador. On December 8th, 2004, in Cuzco, the Summit of South-American Presidents decided to create the South-American Community of Nations. Therefore, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs were asked to elaborate a proposal of course of action with the cooperation of the President of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of MERCOSUR, the Director of MERCOSUR Secretariat, the Secretary-General of the Andean Community, ALADI Secretary-General and the Permanent Secretariat of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO).

The South-American Community of Nations represents a common market with 361 million consumers spread in 17.658 million square kilometres, which has gas and petroleum reserves for more than 100 years and an invaluable natural dispensation. Regarding foreign trade, the exports of the member countries of this Community have reached the amount of US$ 181.856 billion dollars per year.