Minister addresses Chile's current trade and energy situation at the World Economic Forum

On his third day of activities at the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland, the Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in a panel entitled “The changing nature of trade”, where he spoke about how trade can adapt to the new global economy and promote long-term inclusive growth.

In his speech, the Minister elaborated on the situation in Chile, noting that “we are a medium-sized country in Latin America and we have developed a very active trade policy since the 1990s”, which, he explained, was developed in a very favorable context that allowed the negotiation of “trade agreements with almost all of our important partners in the world”.

However, he indicated that currently “we are facing a completely different scenario, a scenario with major trade disruptions”, so it's important “to adapt to this changing context”.

The minister also spoke on a panel on energy leadership in Latin America and the Caribbean, which addressed how the region managed to generate 64% of its energy from clean sources by 2023, significantly above world averages.

The minister noted that 20 years ago one of the most sensitive sectors of Chile's economy was energy. “We didn't have oil. We didn't have gas. We had to import oil and import gas.” However, he affirmed that “20% of our electricity is obtained from renewable sources, from wind energy in our south and solar energy in the north”.

In this sense, he added that “we have advanced a lot and right now we are starting to develop green hydrogen, precisely by taking advantage of our solar energy in the north and our wind energy in the south. We are developing a green hydrogen plan with the participation of different ministers, not only from the current government, but also from the previous government, which is from a different political sector, since we see it as a State policy”.

He also participated in a panel entitled “Sustainable Development Pathways for Resource-Rich Lands,” in which he discussed how the international community can invest, trade and partner with resource-rich countries to jointly achieve an equitable and nature-positive energy transition.

The Foreign Affairs Minister also held dialogues with Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister of Mineral Affairs, Khalid Saleh Al-Mudaifer, and with the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, Inger Andersen, with whom he discussed matters of common interest.