The opening of more foreign delegations was the cause of a dispute between the Government and the PSC. The Socialists demanded that its deployment be stopped, but in the end this point has not been stated in the agreement. The Minister for Foreign Affairs herself, Meritxell Serret, prioritizes the consolidation of the existing ones. Today Pere Aragonès has announced that the procedures have begun to create a new office based in Colombia.
The Catalan Cabinet points out that with this delegation the institutional presence of the Government will almost cover 100% of the American continent. "Catalonia has political, economic, social and cultural ties with Colombia and the will of the Government is to reinforce them even more and provide them with a framework of stable relations", affirms the Catalan Executive, who emphasizes that Colombia "is one of the great regional powers of Latin America" and that "it has a strategic location, with a coast on the Pacific and the Caribbean, and that gives it access to the most important markets in the region."
From the Government they assure that with this new delegation their commitment to "the peace process" and with all the actors, be they NGOs, unions, entities, agencies, and international organizations involved is verified. The Catalan Executive highlights that Colombia is the fourth most important economy in South America and that Catalan exports in Colombia reached a record figure in 2021, 360 million euros, 54% more than the previous year. Catalonia concentrates 31% of imports from the Spanish State in Colombia and almost 10% of Colombian investments in the State.
With its opening, the Government will already have 21 delegations around the world. It currently has twenty delegations abroad, of which thirteen are fully operational, five are partially operational, and two are created by decree and are in the process of being set up. It will not be the last, because the Conselleria d'Acció Exterior is considering the creation of new offices.
