Chile is opening an embassy here with a resident ambassador to assume duties this week as South America’s most developed country looks to step up its cooperation with Guyana and the Caribbean in a number of areas.
In an interview with Stabroek News in Chile’s capital Santiago last week, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Heraldo Muñoz noted that Guyana is a part of South America and a member of several regional groupings including UNASUR and CELAC and both Guyana and Chile are together in a number of other multilateral bodies such as United Nations. “We are very interested in the Caribbean and Guyana is also a Caribbean nation and in addition to that, the host country for Caricom,” the minister added. He said that Santiago wants to be present in Guyana and to increase links with a country “that we consider our neighbour, our friend and maybe a conduit to deepen our relations with the Caribbean.”
Ambassador-designate Claudio Rojas was expected to arrive in the country yesterday and officially take up duties tomorrow. Chile has been ranked by the United Nation’s Human Development Index as the most developed country in South America and in 2010, became the first nation from the continent to be accepted into the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which comprises the world’s top ranked economies. Chile currently holds a seat on the UN Security Council.
Muñoz, who served as UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Director for Latin America and the Caribbean since May 2010 before being appointed to his current post by Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet last year, said that with a resident embassy in Guyana, there are openings for a large number of possibilities.
“Chile is a country that has developed some economic areas, such as mining, forestry, food production. We are a country open to international trade, we have 24 Free Trade Agreements with about 63 countries in the world and we have built our progress on the basis of opening our economy and working the public sector with the private sector so that we feel that we could explore these areas of trade and investment (with) Guyana and the way to do that, we feel that having a resident embassy would be a huge step forward,” the minister said.
He added that other areas of cooperation would include public policies to combat poverty and inequality and social exclusion, which he identified as issues that are very important to both governments. “We already have a cordial relationship, a positive one, but now I think we are making a major step forward with opening an embassy,” the minister asserted.
In terms of what Guyana can offer Chile, Muñoz said that Chile imports rice from Guyana and there is a possibility of importing more. He also pointed out that there is a possibility for Chilean investment in Guyana. The minister said that his country is a major investor in many South American countries, with about US$30 billion in investments in Brazil, about US$16 to US$17 billion in investments in Argentina, and more or less the same in Peru, Colombia and other countries. “So one could imagine that if the private sector goes to Guyana, to Georgetown, those are areas that could be explored,” he said.
With Guyana seeking to find markets for its rice, particularly in light of the impending end of a lucrative arrangement with Venezuela, Muñoz said that while the Chilean government can be a facilitator, it would have to be the private sector that would import rice. He noted that there are already some imports of Guyanese rice to Chile.
“What the government can do is facilitate to stimulate contacts, or to facilitate the meeting of phyto-sanitary requirements, for example, but it is up to the private sector. But we can stimulate the private sector by encouraging trade missions either from Guyana to Chile or vice versa and that is something we are willing to do,” he said.
Asked about lowering tariffs, the minister said that this could be a possibility. Santiago has been seeking a Free Trade Agreement with Caricom but talks have not begun and other officials in Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Stabroek News that this was because Caricom officials have said that they are busy trying to close another trade deal with another country.
Muñoz pointed out that Chile is a very open economy and tariffs on foreign goods are relatively low.
Santiago has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for an Open Skies agreement with Guyana and the minister said that tourism could be another area of business. “We have signed an MOU for Open Skies and we are negotiating now a concrete agreement. Once that agreement is translated we’re going to sign it and then there would be the possibilities that commercial airlines might be interested in airline connections. Chileans are increasingly middle-class and want to travel abroad for vacations and to explore new destinations. Today, most of the tourists, the Chilean tourists go to places like Jamaica, or Dominican Republic, or Miami, or Puerto Rico so that new destinations like, for example, the potential of Guyana should be explored,” he said.
The minister also pointed out that Guyana has pristine forests and this could be of high interest in terms of ecotourism.
He said that he knows about the natural wonders of Guyana, including the Kaieteur Falls, and if Guyana’s promotion agency can have an activity in Chile, eventually Chilean tourists will visit Guyana. He noted that as a minister, during visits, officials are usually busy in hotels and meetings and do not see anything else but it would be a pity to miss the natural wonders of Guyana and he hopes to be able to see some of the sights.
Muñoz emphasised that there are many possibilities that could be increased by the establishment of the embassy. He said already there is some cooperation between Chile and Guyana and pointed to a US$200,000 project financed by Chile’s Fund to combat Poverty and Hunger which was executed by the United Nations Development Programme. He said that this has proven to be a good project and Santiago is looking at a second project in Guyana and Jamaica with regard to combating poverty and nutrition, which will be executed via the Food and Agriculture Organisation. That project is also worth US$200,000 and the minister pointed out that the projects were done without an embassy and he hopes that with an embassy now based here, similar projects could be more of a possibility in the future.
The minister has visited Guyana in the past in a different capacity and said that he hopes to visit again now that Chile will have an embassy here. “There is a new government in Guyana and that is also very interesting to us,” he added. Muñoz said that other officials will be visiting Guyana very soon and regularly. He pointed out that Guyana is a member of UNASUR and this makes Santiago even more interested in having political consultations, bilateral consultations, to organise fairs as well as to organise cultural activities and it looks forward to these developments.
