President Piñera encourages greater integration between Chile and Mercosur: “We have a unique opportunity to overcome obstacles from the past”
At a bloc meeting in Argentina, President Piñera called for progress towards the construction of a bio-oceanic corridor and greater convergence with the Pacific Alliance to boost regional trade.
On Wednesday, President Sebastián Piñera emphasized the need to promote greater trade integration between Chile and Mercosur, eliminating barriers and improving cooperation and interconnection.
“Moving forward on this issue will give us greater integration with benefits for everyone involved,” the President said at the plenary meeting of the bloc comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay held in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina.
President Piñera highlighted the free trade agreements reached with Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and proposed moving forward on the implementation of protocols to streamline regional trade.
He also called for the construction work on the facilities and integration of the borders to activate the bio-oceanic corridor to be speeded up. This 1,800 km trade route could reduce the travel time between the Atlantic coast of Brazil, the Chaco of Paraguay, northeast Argentina and the Chilean ports of Iquique, Antofagasta and Mejillones to just 29 hours.
The President also urged for progress to be made on greater convergence between Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance - a bloc comprised of Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico - by eliminating non-tariff barriers, facilitating trade and enhancing cooperation and standardization of regulations.
“The countries of Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance share a common vision of the world, which is not one of ideologies, but one of a modern world. We believe in fundamental values such as freedom, democracy, human rights, but also in freedom, openness, integration, innovation, and entrepreneurship as driving forces to reach our goals,” the President said in his address to the leaders of Mercosur, Chile’s fourth largest trading partner and the main destination for Chilean investments abroad.
The President invited the Mercosur heads of state to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) leaders’ summit and the COP 25 climate change conference to be held in Santiago in November and December, respectively.