Expanding linkages with Chile

In recent years, Chile has strived to develop closer ties with the English-speaking Caribbean –and with Trinidad and Tobago in particular– through new proposals. We therefore decided to open an embassy in Guyana last year, and to increase our diplomatic presence as an observer country, both within Caricom as well as at the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).

As a result, President Bachelet participated as a specially-invited guest at the 37th Inter-Sessional Meeting of Caricom Heads of Government in July 2016, and the ACS Secretary General visited Chile in April this year. At the aforementioned Caricom meeting, the President and Prime Minister Rowley met to promote the bilateral agenda, which led to this visit.

Accordingly, we held the third Round of Political Consultations this year and we have increased bilateral co-operation. During 2016 and in the course of this year, we offered 28 courses and seminars to Trinidad and Tobago in several areas and we shall continue with other meaningful joint initiatives that will soon be announced. From 2006 to date, more than a 100 citizens of this country have been trained through Chilean co-operation or from joint initiatives with other countries. Similarly, several citizens from Trinidad and Tobago participate in Chile’s “English Open Doors” programme, which aims to help Chilean teachers in public schools teach the English language.

This supporting evidence tells us that gradually, in spite of the distance and language barriers, there is greater interaction between Chile and Trinidad and Tobago. This year, we shall work more on specific projects already agreed to, incorporating cultural fusion with the invaluable support of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts.

In the economic sphere, Chile and Trinidad and Tobago have an active trade relationship. Last year, 38 percent of our exports to Caricom came to this country.

Bilateral trade reached US$640 million at the end of December 2016. It is quite noteworthy that Chile is the main buyer of liquefied natural gas from Trinidad and Tobago, and that 92 per cent of the LNG used by Chileans come from this nation. In terms of energy, we are working to make the Inter-American Conference of Energy Ministers a meaningful regional milestone.

This conference will be held in September this year in Santiago and will address the challenges of climate change.

We want to strengthen and expand the linkages in energy to other areas in the economy.

Thus, we would like to conclude initial studies for a possible and more ambitious trade agreement.

In a few weeks, we shall have specific ideas to propose in this regard. Teams from both trade ministries are working on this.

We also wish to forge ahead in signing an air services agreement, so that the Piarco and Santiago airports can become regional hubs for passengers and cargo.

Chile and Trinidad and Tobago are countries that belong to the same hemisphere. We share the same respect for representative democracy, the rule of law, the supreme value of human rights and the universal validity of international law. Herein lies the foundation of our shared relationship, but there are also practical elements that increasingly unite us. Chile is today the largest Latin American user of the Panama Canal and, accordingly, we are quite interested in the security of Caribbean maritime routes. I also believe that the future of Caribbean countries lies in greater openness towards Latin American countries where hundreds of millions of people reside.

Climate change must also mobilise us towards having more meaningful dialogue for capacity building in resilience in both countries. Chile is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to certain natural disasters and Trinidad and Tobago has the most outstanding regional institutions for the prevention of these. Similarly, the global paradigm shift from electricity production to non-conventional renewable energy sources has given rise to more dialogue in the sector. We are working in these spheres, as well as on the exchange of capacities that will improve the lives of our fellow citizens.

In summary, herein lies the significance of Prime Minister Rowley’s visit to Chile. It is an ambitious visit, but one that wishes to sharpen the focus on relations with a view to the future in light of the challenges faced by both countries in the world today