A new institution in Hamburg will give the north German metropolis an important role to play in European cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean in the future: the new European Union-Latin America and Caribbean Foundation will commence work in the Hanseatic city in 2011. The foundation is intended to strengthen bi-regional partnership and coordinate collaborations in politics, business, culture and science. The decision to set up the foundation was taken in 2010 at the Sixth EU-Latin America/Caribbean Summit in Madrid. The Federal Government strongly supported Hamburg becoming the seat of the new institution and is also providing financial support. The EU will be the foundation’s main contributor for the next two years with three million euros. “As a cosmopolitan Hanseatic city with a long tradition of close ties with Latin America, Hamburg is ideally suited as home to the new foundation,” said Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle after Hamburg won its bid to become the seat of the foundation in January 2011. The city’s Latin America competence is demonstrated by a number of organizations, including the Lateinamerika Verein (LAV), the business association for Latin America, and the GIGA Institute of Latin American Studies. Historically, Hamburg has had strong trade relations with the region since the 19th century. “We will cooperate closely with the foundation and consider it a key partner in implementing our new Latin American policy,” emphasizes Werner Hoyer, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office. Hoyer met with the foundation’s designated leadership in May. Its president will be Benita Ferrero-Waldner of Austria, the former European commissioner for external relations, and the office of executive director will be held by Jorge Valdez of Peru, his country’s current ambassador to the EU.
