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This chapter discusses the creation of the Pacific Alliance comprising four countries: Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. It shows that is not only a free trade agreement between these countries but also a multidimensional regional integration with political, economic, and cultural perspectives. Programs and actions have been structured in a way that allows and promotes integral growth of Latin American citizens. For this reason, it is important to analyze in this chapter the opportunities that Alliance Pacific generates with respect to each of these three aspects. (1) Political and diplomatic implications like eliminating visa requirements for the members, sharing some embassies, facilitating labor mobility between these countries, and proposing the creation of a joint parliament. (2) Economic and trade implications with a gradual elimination of tariffs that will allow companies to be more competitive, creation of different government agencies in each country to support business and promote intra-regional trade of goods and services, and create a joint platform to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and gender equity. Finally, (3) Cultural and educational implications, as the creation of “Student and Academic Mobility Platform” of the Pacific Alliance with scholarships for students and researchers, the integration of a “Technical Education Group” to foster integration and social inclusion of children and adolescents, and the creation of “Sports Diplomacy Program” and a “Scientific Research Network on Climate Change.” Although there are still several challenges for improvement in the Pacific Alliance, it is an agreement that will bring stability, welfare, and development effects for the members of these countries.

Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has built bilateral relations with Latin American states. The purpose of this article is to explore the potential for using the Pacific Alliance (PA) as a negotiating frame as regards the Belt and Road Initiative.

We use a descriptive and analytical methodology to recapitulate and analyze the factual and normative background of Latin American economic integration during the last three decades, a process that so far has culminated in the Pacific Alliance (PA) and an emphasis on the Asia–Pacific region.

We contend that the PA has been a learning process in terms of economic cooperation. In addition, it is a Latin American economic integration project that emphasizes its focus on the Asia–Pacific region. Considering the nature of BRI projects, as well as Latin American states’ and China’s interests, we contend that it would be beneficial if Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, the members of the PA, and China channeled their BRI relations through the PA. Thus, the PA should be China’s negotiating partner.

So far, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Latin America has been built upon bilateral relations. This article explores the possibility of developing the BRI through the Pacific Alliance (PA).

This chapter presents information regarding the significance of the Pacific Alliance in the commercial development in Mexico. Mexico’s integration with the countries of the Pacific Alliance (Peru, Colombia, and Chile) is highlighted through statistical analysis of the composition of Mexico’s exports, the future of the country’s exports, and the balance of trade. Some of these challenges are the growth and diversification of exports, internationalization of small business enterprises, and reduction of the balance of trade deficit with respect to some of its main export products. Results showed that Mexico’s three Latin American commercial partners together represented the third-highest destination for its exports, where Mexico had a favorable balance of trade, which suggests that a further opening of these countries’ economies would bring benefits to Mexican economy.

The decrease of Mexican exports since 2012 to countries such as Chile and Colombia are symptoms that the Pacific Alliance free trade agreement needs more support in order to represent an opportunity to increase export diversification, since most of the Mexico-exported goods go to the United States. This can bring economic and political risks because of the overreliance on one trading partner.

The results also showed that most of Mexico’s exports to the Pacific Alliance country members are hi-tech products. The principal exports in terms of sales come from the telecommunications industry, transportation industry, and the home appliance industry. The rest of the main products exported come from medium- or low-technology industries, with high levels of local added value.

This chapter aims to analyze whether member countries of the Pacific Alliance agreement showed economic and financial convergence during the 2010–2016 period. The sample consists of four Latin American countries that are members of the Alianza del Pacífico (Pacific Alliance): Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. We use an economic convergence index (ECI) to classify the degree of the countries’ convergence regarding a given monetary area, considering the size of their economy, and compute three criteria: (1) nominal variables (used to define the Maastricht criteria), which are inflation, long-term interest rates, public debt, fiscal deficit as percentages of gross domestic product (GDP), and exchange rate volatility; (2) real and cyclical variables such as real GDP growth, gap between real GDP and potential GDP, unemployment, current account balance as a percentage of GDP, and short-term interest rates; and (3) a conditional combination that unequally weights nominal and real variables. We also use correlation analysis to compare coefficients. The results can be analyzed in the medium term in terms of descriptive statistics of their real and nominal variables, convergence indexes, and correlation analysis. The results show that the countries of the Pacific Alliance under study are converging in terms of nominal variables such as interest rate, exchange rate, fiscal deficits, and government debt. Also it can be observed that convergence occurs in real and weighted variables, although to a lesser magnitude. In relation to real variables related to GDP growth and foreign trade, these variables adjust less quickly than nominal ones.

This paper examines patterns of collaboration between companies over a six year time period. Research results indicate that while the formation of alliances is on the rise, the upward trend may not be as strong as commonly thought, that most alliances are formed across national borders rather than within borders and typically take the form of a joint venture or non‐equity agreement, and that firms from North America and the Pacific Rim are most likely to be involved in a collaborative venture.

It has been forecast that before the turn of the millennium air travel in Asia will account for 40 percent of global travel rising to 50 percent by 2010. The International Air Transport Association also forecast world international scheduled passenger numbers to grow by an average of 7.1 percent annually to 2000, to reach 522 million. Air wars over Asia are hotting up, with some of the world’s biggest airlines engaged in intense competition over Asian skies – potentially the richest and most lucrative air travel market on Planet Earth, notwithstanding the 1997 currency turmoil. This article looks at how competition in the Asia Pacific air travel industry was played out in the 1990s. A glimpse of what is to come can be drawn from the several tough skirmishes seen thus far in the 1990s.

Alliances between companies are an example of a collaborative strategy adopted in anticipation of highly uncertain markets. Since 1980, the commercial airline industry has been affected by a progressive liberalization worldwide. In this historical context, most airlines reacted with defensive movements in the face of high competition. In the case of airlines in the Spanish market, one of the largest in the world due to the weight of the tourism sector in its economy, airlines responded in various ways to the intensification of competition. Iberia, the main Spanish airline, established different defensive alliance policies. In the 1980s, alliances were mainly collaborative. Since 1998, airline alliances have become coopetitive in nature, as was the case with the creation of One World group (American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Iberia). The partners began to interact in a more horizontal way, maintaining various agreements (code-sharing, handling, schedule coordination, shared sales, fleet maintenance) without renouncing their independence in the face of global competition. Iberia has subsequently modified the composition of its portfolio to move towards a more vertical collaboration with the integration into the IAG Group (Iberia, British Airways, Air Lingus and Vueling). This second phase is a quest to increase market power with deep changes in the nature of its alliances while maintaining coopetitive alliances.

This chapter reviews the history of regulation and deregulation in international air transport and discusses the positive impacts of deregulation and open skies on the tourism sector in the Asia Pacific region. The Hong Kong–Bangkok market was examined, which shows that the granting of the fifth freedom rights has given the two places sufficient air service provisions to build tourism. Future reforms in air transport such as relaxing ownership restrictions and expanding air freedoms rights are explored.