Presidents Piñera and Macri promote a trade liberalization agreement and a joint development agenda
The two presidents met at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace, where they signed a series of agreements to promote trade, investment, integration and cooperation on energy and security matters. “What we are achieving today is a great step forward,” said President Piñera.
On Thursday, the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, and the President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, announced that each country will be sending a trade liberalization agreement for approval by their respective Congress in the next few days. The objective of the agreement is to stimulate bilateral trade.
President Piñera met with President Macri at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires. During their meeting they discussed matters such as trade, energy, immigration, science, tourism, security, and defense.
“What we are achieving today is a great step forward. Today President Macri and I are going to sign a series of real, concrete agreements that have entailed significant work; agreements that will benefit both our peoples. In the next 15 days we will each be sending a Trade Liberalization Agreement to our respective Congress for their approval. This agreement will open more doors for promoting trade in goods and services, as well as investment,” said the Chilean President, who is currently making an official visit to Buenos Aires.
Economic integration between the two countries is an essential part of their foreign trade. Argentina is Chile’s sixth largest trading partner in the world and in 2017 trade between the two countries exceeded US$3.9 billion.
In an effort to strengthen ties between their countries, the two presidents signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a working group in the area of global value chains, productive chains, and direct investments, another to establish an electronic platform to foster trade and integration between the neighboring countries, and an Additional Protocol to the Economic Complementation Agreement to allow the trade, import, export and transportation of electricity and natural gas.
They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a mechanism for cooperating in the area of Creative Industries and a Protocol for the Economic Complementation Agreement regarding the mutual recognition of electronically signed certificates.
This was complemented with a Memorandum of Understanding regarding cooperation on matters of cyber security, cyber crime, and cyber defense.
“Our past has united us since our nations were born; and the present also unites us because Argentina and Chile have shared values and vision. The values of democracy, freedom, respect for human rights and the rule of law. And vision about how we address problems, opportunities, and the challenges of tomorrow,” said President Piñera.
President Piñera called for the two countries to work together to “conquer development and defeat poverty” before the end of the next decade. “This is the noble cause that we must address with the greatest possible unity and collaboration and that is what President Macri and I have committed to today,” he said.