Chile hopes to start free trade talks with Australia, Thailand and Malaysia at an early date, so that the country could become a trade bridge linking Asia, Oceania and Latin America, Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley told media on Thursday.
To pursue this goal, he plans to lead a team of businessmen and government officials to visit Australia in November, Foxley said.
"We plan to go with a large group of business people to Australia, and hopefully speak more seriously about the possibility of a free trade agreement," Foxley said. He added that he was also having preliminary talks with Thailand and Malaysia on the same topic.
Currently, Australia already has a strong business presence in Chile, since Australia's mining firm BHP Billiton owns a controlling stake in Escondida, a Chilean company which is the world's largest copper mine.
Chile's central bank said that Chile's exports to Australia were worth some 95 million U.S. dollars in 2005, while imports stood at some 165 million.
Trade between Chile and Thailand was worth 291 million dollars in 2005, while that between Chile and Malaysia was 230 million dollars .
Chile's free trade agreement with China will come into force soon, and it has long had a similar agreement with South Korea. Chile currently is also negotiating a free trade treaty with Japan, its third largest trading partner after the United States and China. XINHUA NEWS AGENCY.
September 08, 2006
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