Ecuador Roundup: UAE trade agreement, liquidation of public companies, El Niño

UAE trade agreement

Ecuador and the UAE have agreed to negotiate a trade agreement, according to Ecuador's Minister of Production and Foreign Trade, Sonsoles García. “We highlight Ecuador’s interest in negotiating a trade agreement, to which Dr Al Zeyoudi proposed starting negotiations, to conclude it during this year,” García published on social media. The agreement was discussed during a meeting with counterpart Thani Al Zeyoudi of the United Arab Emirates, who is holding the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization. The United Arab Emirates received $601 million worth of Ecuadorian exports in 2023, while $18 million was brought in, resulting in a positive trade balance for Ecuador, local media Primacias reported.

Final liquidation of public companies

The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, has ordered the final liquidation of the Public Enterprise Coordinating Company (EMCO) to be completed within three months. The process, which involves 56 employees and an annual salary expense of $1,557,990, will reduce the number of public companies in the Central Government from 13 to 12, local media La Hora reports. According to La Hora, the presidency of the Republic will inherit all of EMCO's assets and liabilities, and the ministries of each sector will take on the duties of this publicly traded firm, including supervising the boards of directors of the other state-owned businesses.

Educational institutions affected by El Niño

The El Niño rains have affected 427 educational units in Ecuador, causing significant damage to coast-based institutions, according to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education. Daniel Calderón, Ecuador’s Minister of Education has said that the ministry has prepared an investment plan of $2.4 million for cleaning, treatment, and rehabilitation. The El Niño phenomenon mainly affects Guayas, Los Ríos, Esmeraldas, Manabí, and El Oro provinces in the Latin American nation, local media El Telégrafo reported.

Oil investment

State-owned Petroecuador plans to invest $100 million in three or four exploratory wells in the Amistad Field, an oil and gas-producing field located in the Gulf of Ecuador’s second largest city, Guayaquil between 2024 and 2025, according to Bruno Salguero, Exploration and Production manager of Petroecuador. “For now we are visualising that Petroecuador is going to do that project,” Salguero is quoted by Primacias. The project was halted after the state oil company voided the international tender for the Amistad Field in December 2023, after it sought to award the project to a private company, Primacias reports.

Almost 2 million expired products found in candy shop

A candy shop in the El Recreo neighbourhood, south of Ecuador’s capital Quito, were found to be selling expired goods, according to the Ecuadorian National Agency for Health Regulation, Control and Surveillance (Arcsa). Arcsa, in an operation with the National Police, verified the expiration dates on 1,912,550 items, El Telégrafo reported. The establishment was closed and health processes began, potentially resulting in fines ranging from 4 to 10 unified basic salaries, El Telégrafo reports.