ASUNCIÓN — The government of Paraguay today hosted a meeting focused on implementing the recently-signed EU-Mercosur trade agreement. Paraguayan President Santiago Peña addressed the meeting, alongside senior officials from other Mercosur countries, the European Union, the private sector, and the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group).
The meeting took place amid the IDB’s longstanding work to support the expansion of trade and investment across Latin America and the Caribbean, driven by private sector-led growth. The EU-Mercosur agreement, signed in January 2026, represents the largest expansion of market access for Mercosur since its creation, with expected impacts across agribusiness, energy, manufacturing, critical minerals, and knowledge-based services, including the integration of small and midsize companies into global value chains.
The IDB Group is the only regional development bank whose members include all Mercosur countries, as well as most European Union countries, plus other main Mercosur trading partners. As with other trade and economic agreements, the Bank works with its member countries to support the transition from negotiation to effective implementation so that countries can realize the full benefits of the agreement.
Speakers and participants included, among others:
Santiago Peña, President of Paraguay
Carlos Fernández Valdovinos, Governor for Paraguay to the IDB and Minister of Economy and Finance, Paraguay
Ilan Goldfajn, President, IDB Group
Maroš Šefčovič, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, and for Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, European Commission
Ana María Ibáñez, Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge, IDB
Rubén Ramírez Lezcano, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paraguay
Mario Lubetkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uruguay
Mauro Vieira, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Brazil
Pablo Lavigne, Secretary for Production Coordination, Ministry of Economy, Argentina
José Fernando Romero Pinto, Governor for Bolivia to the IDB and Minister of Development Planning and Environment, Bolivia
Katja Afheldt, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the European Union to Paraguay
Flávio Deganutti, CEO, Paracel (Paraguay)
Roger Libby, Vice President and Head of Corporate Public Affairs for the Americas, DHL (Germany)
About the IDB Group
The Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) is the leading source of financing and knowledge for improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. It comprises the IDB, which works with the region’s public sector and enables the private sector; IDB Invest, which directly supports private companies and projects; and IDB Lab, which spurs entrepreneurial innovation.
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