JOINT STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHILE
14 July 2005
Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and His Excellency President Ricardo Lagos Escobar of Chile today reaffirmed the strength and vitality of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Chile.
President Lagos is visiting Australia from 13 to 15 July at the invitation of the Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency Major General (Rtd) Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC.
During their discussion at Parliament House today, the Prime Minister extended a particular welcome to the President on the occasion of his first State Visit to Australia, noting the visit was an important milestone in the bilateral relationship. The Prime Minister noted the momentum generated by recent high-level exchanges, including his own visit to Chile in November 2004 for the APEC leaders' meeting hosted by President Lagos. President Lagos expressed his gratitude for the Prime Minister's warm welcome and Australia's generous hospitality. The President stressed Chile's goodwill to strengthen the bilateral relationship even further, including through cooperation in new areas such as innovation and research.
The Prime Minister and the President agreed that the relationship between Australia and Chile was underpinned by common experiences and shared interests as major southern hemisphere mining and agricultural countries with open economies and a distinct Asia Pacific orientation. The leaders emphasized in their discussions that Australia and Chile shared common democratic values and a firm commitment to principles of good governance and respect for human rights.
The Prime Minister and the President condemned the shocking terrorist attacks in London on 7 July 2005 and reiterated, as leaders of democracies, a shared determination to defeat terrorism.
The Prime Minister and the President stressed the importance of building on our closely aligned interests to increase trade and investment as well as cooperation on issues such as the environment, security and illegal fishing. The leaders acknowledged the significance of working with fellow Cairns Group members to achieve an ambitious outcome in the WTO Doha Round. They underlined the commitment of Australia and Chile to the elimination of export subsidies, substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support and expansion of market access for all products.
The Prime Minister and the President agreed that Australia and Chile, as members of the Group of Friends of UN Reform, shared a commitment to comprehensive reform of the United Nations in order to better respond to challenges facing the global community. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitments to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The leaders also reaffirmed their common commitment to global security, especially in peacekeeping, and acknowledged the valuable cooperation between the Australian Defence Force Peacekeeping Centre and the Centro Conjunto de Operaciones de Paz de Chile (CECOPAC).
The leaders also recognised the value of working within APEC to promote trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation as well as security in the Asia Pacific region. Prime Minister Howard observed that Australia could draw on Chile's experience as Australia prepares to host APEC in 2007. President Lagos acknowledged the importance of the APEC Support Fund (ASF) capacity building initiative, and thanked Australia for its contribution to the fund.
The leaders noted that Australia and Chile, together with New Zealand, will sponsor an agreement to develop a regional Fisheries Management Organisation for the South Pacific. The first formal meeting of interested parties will take place in February 2006. Both leaders also agreed that Australia and Chile would work closely together on Antarctic scientific research.
The Prime Minister and the President noted the longstanding and positive economic links between the two countries. The leaders welcomed the growth in investment links between Australia and Chile. According to Chilean statistics, Australians have already invested approximately US$2.25 billion in Chile, in traditional sectors such as resources as well as new areas such as energy, agribusiness, entertainment and recruitment services. At the same time, a number of Chilean companies have also invested in Australia. Two-way trade in goods and services reached A$333 million in 2004, making Chile Australia's third largest trading partner in Latin America. The President and Prime Minister agreed that a meeting of the Bilateral Trade and Investment Committee would advance the economic relationship.
The Prime Minister and the President acknowledged the particular significance of Australian investment in the Chilean mining sector. The leaders noted that the President, the Chilean Mining Minister, Mr Alfonso Dulanto, and the Australian Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, Mr Ian Macfarlane, would be participating in a mining seminar in Sydney on 15 July to identify new business opportunities for cooperation and trade and investment in the resources sector.
The Prime Minister and the President announced that Chile would host the first round of negotiations for a double taxation agreement between Australia and Chile in Santiago, beginning in September 2005, as a means of further enhancing opportunities for business. The two leaders said that the agreement would strengthen the bilateral economic relationship and encourage a further expansion and diversification of trade and investment between the two countries.
The Prime Minister and the President witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Work and Holiday Visa programme which will come into effect later this year. This programme will allow young people from both countries to work and holiday in Chile or Australia for a period of 12 months.
The Prime Minister and the President highlighted the warm and longstanding people-to-people links between Chile and Australia. The Prime Minister noted the contributions that the Chilean-Australian community has made to Australia's social, cultural and economic development. The President likewise noted the positive contribution of the Australian community in Chile, particularly in endeavours such as education and business. The leaders noted the importance of direct air links between Australia and Chile, which have grown strongly since direct flights were introduced in 2002.
The Prime Minister and the President noted that strong bilateral education links were helping to further deepen ties between the two countries. The two leaders welcomed the visit to Chile in April 2005 by Australia's Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, as well as recent visits by delegations from the Chilean Ministry of Education to Australia. These visits had established a new framework for strategic bilateral cooperation in areas such as English language training, innovation and quality of education, teacher training and vocational education and training.
The Prime Minister and the President also witnessed the signature of a Statement of Intent to negotiate a Nuclear Technical Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and the National Chilean Atomic Energy Commission. A Memorandum of Understanding would facilitate research and development cooperation through joint projects and the exchange of information and personnel.
Both leaders also welcomed other outcomes from the visit which will further advance bilateral links. Later today, the President will witness the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between Primary Industries Research Victoria and Chile's National Institute of Agriculture and Fisheries Research (INIA), which will promote and facilitate research cooperation in agriculture and fisheries.
The leaders also welcomed an agreement among Chile's Ministry of Education, the Escondida Mine Foundation and the Institute of Continuing and TEFOL Education of the University of Queensland which would facilitate the training in Queensland of Chilean English language teachers.
