Bilateral Relations
Images from the desert in the North of Chile
A. OFFICIAL VISIT AND MEETINGS
The good relations that exist between Chile and Australia have been developed over the past few years. This has occurred through a series of visits at the highest level, bilateral meetings and joint ventures involving companies from both countries.
During the course of the year 2000 a number of high profile Australians visited Chile. These included the Australian Senators Alan Ferguson and Kerry O’Brien, who visited as members of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade; Senator Richard Alston, the Minister of Telecommunications, Technology and Culture, who was involved in the bilateral meeting of Science and Technology (CONICYT); and the assistant secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs Mr David Spencer.
On the 15th of May 2000 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the National Commission of Scientific Research and Technology of Chile (CONICYT) and the Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources. Another Memorandum of Understanding was also signed on the 25th of February between CONICYT and The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS)
Subsequently a delegation from Agriculture and Livestock Service, headed by their National Director, visited Australia to hold a technical meeting with their Australian Counterpart AQIS (14th-18th of August). In March and October of 2000, civil employees of The Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO) visited Australia to obtain information regarding new products and services for the forestry sector. In November a meeting between the President of Chile Mr Ricardo Lagos and the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, took place at the APEC Ministerial Meeting held in Brunei.
In 2001 Senator Nick Minchin, the Minister of Science Industry and Resources; Mr Alexander Downer, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mr Mark Vaile, the Minister for Trade all visited Chile. Mr Downer was involved in bilateral meetings and the ministerial meeting of FOCALAE, while Mr Mark Vaile met with the Minister for Agriculture and the Economy. From Chile the Commander in Chief of the Army, General Ricardo Izurieta, the Under Secretary of the National Police and the Under Secretary of Public Works all visited Australia
2001 also saw the 2nd Meeting on Trade and Investment and the signing of a Bilateral Air Services Agreement between Australia and Chile.
In 2002 the State parliamentarian of Victoria, Telmo Languiller, visited Chile. Later that year the training ship the B.E. Esmeralda dropped anchor in Sydney as part of its Annual Training Cruise for Navy Seamen. Cultural Events associated with the ships arrival took place in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide. The Chilean delegation was headed by Mr Claudio Di Girólamo, Director of Culture for the Ministry of Education.
In addition, a Military Attache Office is opened and the signing of the Joint Agreement between LAN Airlines and QANTAS for the commencement of regular direct flights between Santiago, Auckland and Sydney.
In 2003 the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr. Warren Truss and the Minister for the State of Queensland, Mr. Tom Barton both visited Chile. Comparably the Assistant Secretary of Fisheries Mr. Felipe Sandoval made a tour of Australia in March of the same year. 2003 also marked the occurrence of another meeting between the former President of Chile Mr. Ricardo Lagos and the Prime Minister Mr John Howard at the APEC Conference in Bangkok.
The most important issue involving Chile-Australia bilateral relations in 2004 was undoubtedly the visit of the Australian Prime Minister, Mr. John Howard to Santiago. Mr. Howard visited Chile as part of the APEC Leaders Summit (19th of November) and this marked the first ever visit to Chile by a leader of the Australian Government. The image below shows Mr. John Howard with the President Mr. Ricardo Lagos.
Largely because of the APEC meetings in Chile, a number of other important Australians visited Chile in 2004. These included the Minister for Trade, Mr. Mark Vaile; the Minister for Tourism, Joe Jockey; and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Alexander Downer. Mr. Downer and Mr. Vaile engaged in bilateral negotiations with their respective counterparts Mr. Ignacio Walker (Foreign Affairs) and Mr. Jorge Rodriguez (Economy).
Australia, on the other hand, received the visits of the President of ABAC, Mr. Hernan Sommerville, the President of SOM APEC Chile 2004 Mr. Ricardo Lagos Weber and Senators Edgardo Boeninger, Alejandro Foxley and Fernando Flores;.
In the same year (2004), the Australian Government extended an official invitation to the then Minister for National Defence and the current President of Chile, Dr Michelle Bachelet Jeria. The Minister visited Australia with the objective of strengthening military ties and increasing cooperation in the areas of security and defence.
Upon her arrival in Sydney on the 30th of May, Mrs. Bachelet met with officials from various organizations from the Chilean Community and representatives of various media groups.
The next day she was transferred to Sydney in the Prime Minister’s private jet. She began her program with a meeting with the Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Mr. Peter Cosgrove and the Secretary of Defence, Mr. Richard Smith. This was followed by a floral offering at the Australian War Memorial and later another meeting with Department of Defence personnel. The Minister also toured the facilities at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and the Australian Defence College.
Mrs. Bachelet also had a joint meeting with the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, headed by Senator Alan Ferguson; members of the Australia-Chile Parliamentary Group, presided by the Senator Alan Chapman; the minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Alexander Downer and the Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Hill.
Mrs Bachelet’s visit combined technical and professional activities, including meetings with representatives of both the Government and the Parliament. Her visit was covered by numerous media sources such as The Spanish Herald, El Español, Canberra Times, The Financial Review, The Australian and the television channel SBS.
Mrs. Bachelet’s visit was followed by another official visit from a delegation of Parliamentarians, headed by the President of the Senate, Senator Hernán Larrain, and the President of the Chamber of Representatives, Mr. Pablo Lorenzini. The delegation also included Senators Rafael Moreno, Sergio Romero y MPs Edmundo Salas, Iván Norambena, Alberto Robles, Aníbal Pérez and Osvaldo Palma.
The Parliamentary delegation had meetings in Sydney with the President of the Australia-Latin America Business Council (ALABC) and the Vice-President of the Council on Australia Latin America Relations (COALAR). Lunch was provided courtesy of ALABC and incorporated representatives of a number of prominent Australian businesses. These included members of AGL, Ernst & Young, P & O, Aviation Services, Security Bills and BHP Billiton.
The delegation also visited the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and met with distinguished persons from numerous organisations. These included top level executives from the Macquarie Bank, officials from the Reserve Bank of Australia, academics from the University of New South Wales, the president of the Legislative Council and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of New South Wales.
Once in Canberra the Chilean Parliamentary Delegation met with the President and other members of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. The committee was headed by Senator Alan Ferguson and included, among others, the former Minister for Trade, Senator Peter Cook. Meetings were also held with Senator Paul Calvert, who is the Minister in charge of Employment and Workplace Relations and the President of the Senate and Mr. Neil Andrew, the President of the House of Representatives. Meetings were also held with the Manager of the Division of Natural Gas of the Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Resources; the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Before leaving Australia the delegation was invited by the Australian Parliamentary Authorities to visit the Hunter Valley, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.
In 2005, Ricardo Lagos Escobar, the President of the Republic of Chile visited Australia. This was the first presidential visit in over a decade and only the third in history.
Even though the details of the aforementioned visit are available in the News section, it is important to mention here that as part of the visit a joint statement was released by both leaders. Also the Prime Minister and the President witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Work and Holiday Visa programme and a Statement of Intent to Negotiate a Nuclear Technical Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding
The following images show the signing of both agreements.
Also, in the presence of the President, the Minister of Agriculture of Chile, Mr. Jaime Campos, endorsed a Memorandum of Understanding between Primary Industries Research Victoria and Chile’s National Institute of Agriculture and Fisheries Research (INIA), which will promote and facilitate research cooperation in agriculture and fisheries.
Finally the Chilean Head of State attended the signing of a Cooperation Agreement between Chile’s Ministry of Education, the Escondida Mine Foundation and the Institute of Continuing and TEFOL Education of the University of Queensland which would facilitate the training in Queensland of Chilean English language teachers from the Antofagasta region.
The press releases provided by the Chilean Department for Foreign Affairs in relation to the presidential visit are available below. They combine interesting elements in respect to the impact of the visit from the point of view of bilateral relations. Click below to view these documents.
14/07/05 – Joint Statement between the President of Chile and the Prime Minister of Australia (English)
For more information in regards to the Presidential visit see the News section.
B. – DEVELOPMENT OF INVESTMENT
On the subject of foreign investment, one must emphasise Australia’s investments in Chile, especially in the mining sector. The following companies have produced the majority of the Australian investment in Chile: BHP Billiton, Ludowici Tecpromin SA, Mincon International, Orica, Otraco, Rio Tinto, SMC Gold, Western Mining, Xstrata and others
The total Australian investment in the mining sector is around US$6.014 million. Australia is the fifth largest foreign investor in Chile with 55 companies established in Chile and over 100 companies represented.
You can find more information on Bilateral Trade and Investment here
C – COPERATION IN MULTILATERAL ORGANISATIONS
A high degree of collaboration and correspondence exists between both countries in regional and international forums. This is especially the case in the WTO, APEC, the Cairns Group, the Commission for Conservation of Arctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and FOCALAE. This cooperation focuses on a wide range of subjects including the environment, disarmament and nonproliferation of arms, denuclearization, marine laws, biotechnology and Antarctic issues. Recently both countries have participated in negotiations to create a regional organization for the management of deep sea fishing in the South Pacific.
More information on bilateral relations is available in the respective chapters of the Bilateral Relations section of this website.
Australia Chile Chamber of Commerce
Have a look to the new Newsletter of the Australia-Chile Chamber of Commerce, in Sydney. Click here. To contact a representative of the Chamber, you may send an email.