MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean Congress approves free trade agreement with Japan

The Chilean Senate ratified this week the first free trade agreement with Japan and next week Chile is scheduled to begin a round of bilateral negotiations with Australia hoping to reach a similar free trade agreement.

The Senate voted 30 ayes and one abstention, following its approval in the Lower House of the agreement with Japan. Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley said it is possible that the FTA, which was signed in March, will be enacted when Chilean President Michelle Bachelet makes and official state visit to Japan in September. The FTA is set to eliminate tariffs in more than 90 percent of commercial trade between the two countries. However the FTA does not include Japanese agricultural products such as rice, which is strongly subsidized by Japan. FTA promulgation depends on ratification of both countries parliaments. Chilean Finance Minister Andrés Velasco said that Australia is a growing trade partner of Chile with common interests in several fields, mainly mining, where we can learn a lot from the Australian experience. Australia is the fifth country investor in Chile with over 60 first line companies operating in the county, and using Chile as a base to produce and export to the rest of Latinamerica. Bilateral trade with Japan in 2006 was above seven billion US dollars according to the Chilean Central Bank. Chilean exports, mainly copper, fisheries, forestry and other commodities totaled just over six billion US dollars.