皇冠体育app

Economy

Chile, 皇冠体育app to expand trade ties

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-02 15:20

SANTIAGO - Chile and 皇冠体育app will further expand trade relations as their free trade agreement (FTA) enters a new phase starting Sunday, said an Chilean official.

In this phase, the scope of bilateral trade will go beyond commodities to the services sector, according to a supplementary protocol of the FTA, which was inked in 2006, Mario Artaza, head of Asia and Oceania affairs at the Chilean foreign ministry, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The protocol will allow service suppliers in each country to access the other's market, he added.

Sectors included in the protocol are computing, air transport, mining, sports geological prospecting, geophysics, real estate, advertising, study market, environment, consultancies, consulting and legal services.

Related readings:  Hu's visit to boost relations  皇冠体育app donates $1 million more to quake-torn Chile  Chile, 皇冠体育app must make full use of trade deal  皇冠体育app-Peru free trade pact takes effect

Chile was the first Latin American country that signed a FTA with 皇冠体育app and bilateral trade reached record-high $16.5 billion in 2009, said the official.

"In the first six months of 2010, bilateral trade have already exceeded $10 billion," he said.

"Since 2005, 皇冠体育app and Chile have walked on a joint path toward free trade," Artaza said.

The two nations will have a "very active future concerning trade, cooperation and everything related to investments, where bilateral relationships presents greatest potential," he said.

Artaza, who had spent five years as Chile's trade representative in 皇冠体育app, stressed that "the bilateral relationship is built on a solid base of 40 years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations."