Bolivia predicts high foreign investment in its hydrocarbons industry, but won't meet 2008 export demands. Meanwhile, government officials and opposition leaders met this week to bridge a divide that led four provinces to demand autonomy.
After Venezuela's rejection of a new constitution, attention turns to other Latin American attempts at reform, particularly in Bolivia and Ecuador. Plagued by protests, Bolivia's constitutional reform remains in doubt. Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez Herrera and President Rafael Correa of Ecuador discussed constitutional reform at AS/COA events.
AS/COA Director of Policy Jason Marczak talked with Bolivian Minister of Hydrocarbons Carlos Villegas Quiroga about the country's oil and gas sectors. Villegas encouraged investment in Bolivia's state company and discussed prospects for energy negotiations with Chile and Brazil.
En esta entrevista exclusiva con Carlos Villegas Quiroga, ministro de hidrocarburos de Bolivia, el ministro promueve que “las empresas privadas inicien programas y proyectos de exploración conjuntamente con la empresa estatal Boliviana.” Mirando hacia el futuro, nota las condiciones necesarias para empezar un diálogo sobre temas energéticos con Chile y menciona que Bolivia tendrá una idea clara a mediados de diciembre sobre las inversiones de Petrobras.
Providing a forum to connect government officials and private sector leaders, AS/COA held our first Latin American Cities Conference in La Paz, Bolivia. The conference examined the country’s investment climate and discussed the importance of investment for Bolivia’s development and sustained economic growth.
With Iraq and other priorities competing for the attention of U.S. policymakers, the question of Bolivia is overlooked. But, situated in the heart of South America, with the second-largest natural gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere, Bolivia's unsettled course bears close watch.
