Foreign Minister speaks on Foreign Policy and APEC 2019 at forum in Viña del Mar

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Ampuero, participated today in the forum organized by El Mercurio of Valparaiso and the Institute of Work Security (IST) "Foreign Policy and APEC 2019" held at the Sporting Space in Viña del Mar.

During his speech, the Chancellor gave a presentation on the main axes of the foreign policy promoted by the government of President Sebastián Piñera. Thus, the Minister stressed the importance for our country of the relationship with the rest of the region: "Chile will persevere in its regional integration efforts, since the long-term objective continues to be to create a regional articulation on solid and permanent bases, resulting from a common vision of a development model".

In addition, the Secretary of State stressed that our country's foreign policy is based on the principles of democracy, and that Chile "will continue to play an active role in the search for a democratic solution to the Venezuelan crisis, within the framework of the Lima Group and other collective bodies aimed at that end".

In economic terms, he highlighted the conviction that exists regarding the "value of the free market, private initiative and freedom of trade as guiding principles of our development model", stressing that today our country has 26 trade agreements, which cover 85% of world GDP.

The Chancellor reported that the Pacific Alliance will be "our main integration tool", highlighting the momentum that is being given to convergence with Mercosur. "We will seek to apply the Pacific Alliance's model of efficiency and pragmatism to promote reforms in multilateral integration institutions that have proven to be unproductive or inefficient. We see multilateralism as an instrument for integration, not as an end in itself".

In addition, he pointed out that foreign policy in this period will be in line with the challenges of the present times "thinking of the need to achieve sustainable development", adding that it will also seek to "capitalize on the role played in the sustainable ocean economy, as world astronomical capital and an example as the first recipient of investments in renewable energies".

The Chancellor also highlighted the entry into force of the new law to modernize the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which seeks to "improve the ministerial structure in order to have a Chancellery better able to foresee scenarios and plan foreign policy objectives with a strategic vision".

He also said that, in his administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he will seek to add a citizen seal of closeness with the people. "Embassies, consulates and commercial offices will apply the open-door policy, improving the protection of Chileans abroad".

APEC 2019

At the end of his speech, the Chancellor took a few minutes to explain the importance of the APEC countries summit to be held in November in our country.

"APEC is for Chile the main economic integration mechanism in the Asia-Pacific Region. The Forum has proved to be a catalyst for economic and trade liberalization processes at the bilateral and multilateral levels. It is also an instrument to effectively implement Chile's foreign policy objectives in the region," he said.

In addition, the Minister informed on the role that the Region of Valparaiso will play during this event: "I would like to say that during APEC 2019 one of the central activities, the Ministerial Trade Meeting, will take place in Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. This is a meeting that brings together around two thousand experts from the entire network, who will arrive in this region and who will work in 24 or 25 working groups. It is one of the essential pillars, where central things are decided and in this sense the cities of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar have a tremendous responsibility, they have a great possibility of projecting themselves to the world".