Joint Declaration on the State Visit of President Sebastián Piñera to Brazil

Responding to an invitation from His Excellency the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Michel Temer, the President of the Republic of Chile, Sebastián Piñera Echenique, made a State Visit to Brazil on April 27, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Cecilia Morel Montes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Ampuero, and the Official Entourage.

Meeting in Brasilia, the Presidents of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Michel Temer, and the President of the Republic of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, reaffirmed their commitment to democratic values and the rule of law, the protection and promotion of human rights, multilateralism, regional and international peace and security, physical integration and the socio-economic development of South America.

The Presidents, while noting the particularly auspicious moment of the political and economic relationship between Brazil and Chile, agreed to the following:

1. They decided to launch negotiations for the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement this year, which will include new disciplines focused on modernizing the bilateral relationship and will add to existing agreements matters that will deepen integration in trade in goods, services and investments.
2. They highlighted the vitality of bilateral trade, which totals $8.7 billion and grew by 22% in 2017. Brazil is Chile's main trading partner in South America, as well as the main destination for Chilean investments. Chile, for its part, is Brazil's second largest trading partner in South America and the destination of important Brazilian investments.
3. They signed a Public Procurement Agreement that will establish a common framework of principles and rules for their bilateral trade in this area, with a view to expanding trade opportunities, under conditions of transparency, equality and non-discrimination.
4. They signed a Financial Services Protocol that seeks, among other things, to ensure that investors in the sector have access to the same rights and mechanisms established for other investors in the bilateral Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreement (ACFI), signed in 2015. This year, they convened the XII Meeting of the Brazil-Chile Trade Monitoring Commission to discuss specific issues related to trade flows between the two countries.
5. They agreed to sign in the next Trade Monitoring Commission a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the institutionalization of the Regulatory Committee between Chile and Brazil, a body that will promote regulatory dialogue and contribute to facilitate trade between both countries. In addition, a specific instrument will be signed in relation to Trade in Pharmaceutical Products.
6. They agreed to make progress in resolving the pending issues in pension matters within the framework of the Social Security Agreement, for which they will convene the First Meeting of the Joint Commission of the Brazil-Chile Social Security Agreement, during the first half of 2018.
7. In the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Establishment of a Permanent Joint Commission on Energy and Mining, signed on April 11, 2006, they agreed to hold the First Meeting of the Bilateral Energy Commission this year to intensify cooperation in the area of renewable energy.
8. In the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Biofuels, signed on April 26, 2007, they agreed on the visit to Brazil of a Chilean delegation to jointly explore concrete opportunities for cooperation in the area of biofuel.
9. They highlighted the existing dialogue between SOFOFA and the National Confederation of Industry - CNI, and its strengthening through the establishment of a work agenda that promotes concrete initiatives that facilitate business between companies in both countries.
10. They highlighted the recent signing of a Protocol of Intentions to create a Strategic Alliance between the Governments of Chile and the State of São Paulo (August 2017), which will allow for cooperation, a first stage, in the areas of science, technology and innovation, technical and university education, investment and trade.
11. They confirmed the commitment of Brazil and Chile to deepen the dialogue and rapprochement between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance through the Road Map defined at the meeting in Buenos Aires on April 7, 2017.
12. They called this year for the first meeting of the Consultation Mechanism of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Defence (Mechanism 2+2) with emphasis on cooperation between the Armed Forces in the event of natural disasters and cybersecurity, and agreed to begin negotiations on an MoU on Cooperation in the area of Cybersecurity that would enable them to successfully face the growing threats in this area.
13. This year they convened the XIV Meeting of the Political Consultation Mechanism and the II Meeting of Consular Consultations between Brazil and Chile.
14. They reaffirmed the commitment of Brazil and Chile to the Bioceanic Passageway that will connect Central Eastern Brazil with the ports of Northern Chile. The leaders acknowledged the progress made in its implementation and highlighted the approval by the Brazilian National Congress of the agreement for the construction of the bridge between Puerto Murtinho and Carmelo Peralta, in Paraguay.
15. They reinforced the successful bilateral cooperation on Antarctic issues and committed themselves to promoting the entry into force of the Antarctic Cooperation Agreement signed in 2013. At the same time, they welcomed the fluidity of the dialogue between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the context of the mechanism of bilateral consultations on Antarctic issues, which offer a political framework for the Antarctic cooperation agenda at the scientific and logistical levels.
16. They agreed to intensify the cooperation in scientific and technological research. They highlighted the already consolidated partnership between CONICYT and the CNPq and the FAPESP in areas such as advanced materials engineering, population ageing and sustainable agro-industry.
17. They expressed the intention to speed up the exchange of experience on projects to support innovation and the internationalisation of startups. They welcomed the participation of more than 83 Brazilian companies in the Startups Chile program, managed by CORFO, and agreed to move forward in the exchange with the Startout Brazil program, which brings together efforts of Itamaraty, MDIC, Apex-Brasil, SEBRAE and ANPROTEC.
18. They decided to hold this year the IV Meeting of the Working Group on Scientific, Technological and Innovation Cooperation.
19. They celebrated the completion of nine co-productions since 2007 under the Protocol of Cinematographic Cooperation for the Support of the Co-production of Feature Films, signed in 2015 by the National Film Agency (ANCINE) and the National Council for Culture and Arts of Chile (CNCA).
20. They emphasized the successful bilateral cooperation in the area of education, in which Chilean students are beneficiaries of the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programs (PEC-G and PEC-PG) and Brazilian students are beneficiaries of the Chilean Horizontal Cooperation Scholarship Program. They expressed interest in intensifying bilateral cooperation in programmes related to the promotion of Chilean and Brazilian literature.
21. They reiterated the importance they place on the full implementation of democratic institutions and the promotion of human rights in South America. In this context, they reaffirmed their commitment to contributing to the restoration of democracy in Venezuela, which requires the holding of free and fair presidential elections, with the participation of opposition leaders and political parties and under independent international observation, the release of all political prisoners and the cessation of the systematic violation of human rights in that country. They also insisted on the importance that the Venezuelan government authorize the opening of a humanitarian channel that could alleviate the serious shortage of medicines and food in that country.
22. They stressed the importance of the trilateral cooperation project for food security and agricultural health between Brazil, Chile and Suriname. They renewed their mutual interest in intensifying trilateral technical cooperation and exchanged information on possible projects in third countries.
23. President Michel Temer thanked Chile for its support of Brazil's candidacy for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The Presidents agreed that it is essential to make progress in the reform of the Security Council in order to contribute to the strengthening of the United Nations, as well as in the implementation of more transparent and participatory working methods in this body, recognizing that the vast majority of member states agree that the time has come to make real progress in this area. The Presidents exchanged information and welcomed the candidatures of both countries for non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council (Brazil for the 2022-2023 term and Chile for the 2029-2030 term).
24. President Michel Temer also thanked President Sebastián Piñera for Chile's support for Brazil's candidacy to become a full member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). President Sebastián Piñera agreed on the importance of Brazil's accession to the OECD, as well as that of Argentina and Peru. President Temer highlighted Brazil's emphasis on the OECD accession process, a natural consequence of Brazil's continued presence in the organization's activities and discussions. At the same time, he stressed that participation as a full member, in addition to giving greater coherence and consistency to Brazilian participation, will allow it to influence the course of the debates conducted in the OECD, in which Brazil and Chile meet with great substantive convergence.
25. They expressed satisfaction with the historic meeting between the leaders of the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea held today, 27 April. The meeting and the "Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula" represent fundamental steps for the normalization of relations and the definitive establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

President Sebastián Piñera thanked, on his own behalf and on behalf of his wife and entourage, for the warm welcome and expressions of appreciation and friendship extended to them by the Brazilian Government, authorities and people during their State Visit to Brazil.