MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Malaysia 59th country to sign free trade agreement with Chile

First for the administration of President Piñera

This week Malaysia became the 59th country to sign a free trade agreement with Chile. It is the first free trade agreement (FTA) for President Sebastian Piñera's government and it is Malaysia’s first FTA with a Latin American nation.

Once fully implemented, 99% of Chilean exports will enter Malaysia without tariffs and 95% of Malaysian imports will come tariff-free to Chile. Trade between Chile and Malaysia is now at about 230 million US dollars, from 130 million in 2000.

Chile currently has FTA with about 60% of the world’s population, including Canada, the US, the EU, China, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Peru.

Chilean-Asian trade markets are rapidly growing. China is rapidly becoming Latinamerica’s second largest trade partner ahead of the European Union, just behind the United States in the next few years.

China already is the main market for Chilean exports, with 13%. Similarly, Chinese imports are a significant portion of the market.

By Laura French – Santiago Times