They claim such decision goes against Colombia’s TLC with the European Free Trade Association, which currently regulates relationships with Switzerland and Liechtenstein exclusively.Īll of these disputes should be monitored closely, as they will give hints towards the functionality of FTAs, as well as showing exactly how well can Colombia fare when faced in courts against powerful transnational companies. They want to avoid a Health Ministry decision to lift the patent on Imatinib, a drug involved in the treatment of Leukemia. Spanish company Telefónica were also affected by this ruling, and might follow América Móvil into court, signifying higher stakes for the Colombian government.įinally, there is Swiss big pharma flagship, Novartis, which plans to throw their suit in the following weeks. The Mexican company is trying to reclaim assets lost in a Constitutional Court ruling regarding mobile service provision. The area designated for their operations was recently declared a national reserve, and the dispute will try to determine whether the mining rights were granted before or after this designation.Īnother notable claim was filed by regional telecoms titan América Móvil, owners of Claro, the largest mobile provider in the continent. The claim follows a fight for mining rights in the Vaupes region, near the Brazilian border. Perhaps the most worrying suit comes from Canadian firm Cosigo Resources, which are suing the Colombian state for $16.5 billion, a sum that amounts to 12% of the country’s GDP. When a one billion investment was not endorsed by Colombian authorities, Glencore’s coal mining subsidiary Prodeco was sanctioned, fined and forced to renegotiate. The Anglo-Swiss Glencore on the other hand is fighting an internal battle against state agencies regarding an adjustment in the payment of royalties. The claim specifically addresses “Excessive delays in the delimitation of the Santurbán moorlands” which have now come under special protection following a ruling by the Colombian Constitutional Court. The most notorious suits come from mining powerhouses, Glencore, Eco Oro and Cosigo.Įco Oro’s case refers to a long standing battle between Colombia and the Canadian firm over gold mining rights in the Santurbán moorlands. Well, this could be the case for Colombia, as in recent weeks corporate giants are filing multi-million claims against the state for alleged violations to the FTA guidelines. If countries are not responsible in their application, FTAs can turn into headaches instead. It is well known that FTAs are mixed blessings, they are complex relationships with thousands of intricacies. She currently divides her time between Berlin and Jakarta.Colombia has been relying on free trade agreements (FTAs) to cement their position in the international markets, they have 13 of these agreements signed, with a handful of others pending ratification. Her prose and poetry have been published in many international literary journals. Pamuntjak was selected as the Indonesian representative for Poetry Parnassus at the 2012 London Olympics. It also appeared in De Bild's Top 10 Books of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015, and the ORF Kultur Top 10 List for November 2015. The novel is a modern take on the Hindu epic Mahabharata set against the backdrop of the Indonesian mass killings of 1965 and the Buru penal colony, and has been translated into English, German ( Alle Farben Rot, 2015) and Dutch ( Amba of De Kleur Van Rood, 2015). She is the author of two collections of poetry (one of which, Ellipsis, appeared in the 2005 Herald UK Books of the Year pages) a treatise on the relationship between man and violence based on the Iliad a collection of short stories based on paintings five editions of the best-selling and award-winning Jakarta Good Food Guide two translations of the works of Indonesian poet and essayist Goenawan Mohamad and two bestselling novels.Īmba/The Question of Red, Pamuntjak’s first novel, won Germany’s LiBeraturpreis in 2016, was short-listed for the 2012 Khatulistiwa Literary Award, appeared on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’s Top 8 list of the best books of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015, and was named best work of fiction from Asia, America, Latin America, and the Caribbean translated into German on the Weltempfaenger (Receivers of the World) list. She works as an art and food consultant and writes for numerous local and international publications including opinion articles for the Guardian. Laksmi Pamuntjak is a bilingual Indonesian novelist, poet, food writer, journalist and co-founder of Aksara Bookstore.
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