HAMBURG, Germany, November 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Newly founded EU-Latin America and Caribbean Foundation becomes operational

The newly-founded EU-Latin America and Caribbean Foundation (EU-LAC) opened its headquarters today in the north German port city of Hamburg. From here, the EU-LAC will also develop the economic involvement of the German government in the collaboration with Latin American countries. Hamburg applied to be the headquarters of the foundation and received the honour with the recommendation of high-ranking EU officials and Latin American countries. First Mayor of Hamburg Olaf Scholz will now receive German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, President of the Foundation Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Executive Director Jorge Valdez in addition to the high-ranking representatives of the 60 participating nations. The Foundation will serve as a catalyst for joint strategies and actions and will step up the relationship between Europe and Latin America at all levels. As the third-largest port in Europe, Hamburg has traditionally had close contact with Latin America. Furthermore, around 20 Latin American consulate  headquarters are based in the city.

As a port, the city has a long-standing tradition of collaboration with Latin America. As early as the 17th century, Jewish merchants from Spain and Portugal on the run from the Inquisition settled in the liberal city of Hamburg and ran their businesses with the "new" continent from here. Today, more than 260,000 containers pass through Hamburg's port on their journey from the east coast of South America to Europe.  Brazil is Hamburg's third largest ocean cargo trading partner, handling around 5.6 million tonnes of goods. Additionally, Hamburg maintains a sister-city arrangement with Leon in Nicaragua and has special bi- and multi-lateral trade agreements with many Latin American countries.

The EZLA Trade Centre will open at the same time as the EU-LAC headquarters, with the aim of bundling numerous Latin American competencies and facilitating the entry into Europe for both small and medium-sized South American companies. Partner of the Centre is the HWF Hamburgische Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftsförderung mbH (Hamburg Business Development Corporation). More information is available at: http://www.hamburg-economy.de

Contact:
Hamburg Marketing GmbH
Guido Neumann
Tel. +49(40)411110617
Guido.neumann@marketing.hamburg.de

SOURCE Hamburg Marketing GmbH