The effluvia of the plebiscite held in Chile a fortnight ago are slowly beginning to be left behind, the calmer conversations and political activity is what is coming, it is time to take charge of the most pressing issues such as the recovery of public order, social issues and the urgent need to return to economic growth.
Before continuing and thinking of readers living abroad, let me tell you that yesterday, September 18, Chile celebrated its “Fiestas Patrias”, they are something like the “national festival” par excellence, one of the most popular celebrations of the southern calendar, it is a memory of the creation of the First Governing Board in 1810 as a result of the presence of Napoleon’s troops in Spain and more specifically due to the expulsion in 1808 of the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII, from the Spanish throne. Independence itself was achieved years later in 1818, whose declaration, for some, was definitively signed in January in the city of Concepción, for others in Talca in February, the first 500 kilometers and the second 300 south of Santiago, although The final battle took place on April 5 of that year in Maipú, a place near the capital, today it is part of the great capital metropolis. Meanwhile, the 19th is dedicated to praising the glories of the Chilean Army, a festival added in 1915. Also, the end of winter and the arrival of spring.
Returning to the present, last Wednesday the President of the European Commission, the German Úrsula von der Leyen, in a speech of more than an hour on the State of the European Union in the European Parliament touched on various matters of interest. In the commercial economic section, he announced that he will propose the ratification of the modernization of the Association Agreement (AA) that the European Union maintains with Chile since 2002, the technical negotiations concluded a long time ago, the Chilean authorities had already requested it be signed before he assumed the current president Boric. From this announcement we deduce that we would already be facing a green light in the absence of being ratified by the Parliaments of the EU and Chile.
From the Chilean Foreign Ministry they recognized a few weeks ago that there were talks with the European Commission, but they were not an opening of new understandings, they only consisted of reviewing some points of the content. They mentioned the EU proposal regarding the “split”, referring to the procedures to be used in negotiations within the EU, considering that the AA between the two consists of three extensive parts: 1) political and cooperation, 2) commercial, and 3) investment and cutting. Given this, they proposed giving priority to those opinions in which the advances for an improvement were more agile to reach for an agreement, gaining in efficiency in procedural terms. Likewise, they wanted to clarify the chapter on energy and raw materials, and the restrictions and limitations that are established to be able to establish preferential rights between the domestic and international markets. In the investment chapter, the possibility of Chile requiring foreign investment to carry out innovation and development (R&D) and the issue of technology transfers. They added that they wanted to sign the AA in November 2022, 20 years after the signing of the first.
On September 26, the Chilean Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau, together with the Minister of Public Works, Juan Carlos García, and the Executive Director of InvestChile, Karla Flores, will begin a visit to Europe. Their first stop will be Madrid with a conference that will take place in the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), in which the concern of formalizing the AA will surely surface.
This event is aimed at “Spanish companies with interests and/or a presence in Chile, and constitutes an excellent opportunity to learn first-hand about the priorities of the new Chilean government, talk with the Ministers about the current situation in the country, as well as to learn the measures adopted by the Government and the plans to be developed in the country They will announce the portfolio of 11 projects to be awarded between 2022 and 2023 under the concession regime (especially in relation to the construction and infrastructure development sector), of a value close to 3,700 million dollars”, they indicate in the invitation.
Also, during the meeting they will report on the 6th InvestChile 2022 International Forum, which will take place between December 5 and 7, 2022, in Santiago de Chile.
All in all, it is correct to state that Chile and the EU share policies on various matters that lead today on the global stage, one of the most attractive being those related to climate change, an issue that was made clear at the COP25 held in Madrid. To this we can add inclusive trade or support for SMEs. In general, there has been and there is a common EU-Chile approach in the international institutions in which something very relevant participates in the face of the concerts that arise in diverse objectives, the positions usually coincide, which is considered a good thing.
In conclusion, Chile needs domestic and foreign investors in order to grow strongly again. We believe that it is absolutely necessary to demonstrate that the strategy of opening up to the world is fully effective. The renewed EU-Chile Association Agreement must be signed as soon as possible, it would be an example of what has been said. Also, end the process of ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Treaty of Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP or TPP-11) at this time in the Chilean Senate since 2018.
In the words of the president of Sofofa, one of the branches of Chilean businessmen, Richard Von Appen, referring to the TPP11 said “the support is so transversal and also incomprehensible that countries that are supposed to be aspirational for us, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand has approved it, with everything it has incorporated, so I think that here there is a little bit of a small look at this regarding some of these issues, we have to be part of this new world,” he said. He added, “the truth is that the TPP11 there is no reason today not to approve it and that is what is finally happening, that is, in the reality of the facts what is happening to Chile is that we are being relegated in an incomprehensible way “.
Facebook Comments
Disqus