MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Next Chilean ambassador to China promises to boost agriculture exports

Ambassador Luis Schmidt dreaming with Beijing

Luis Schmidt, the recently appointed Chilean ambassador to China, is already speaking out about his goals and needs as ambassador to the country that has become Chile's largest trading partner. Last month he attended the closing of the World Expo in Shanghai and in January will relocate to China

Schmidt said he will devote most of his efforts on investment and trade. Currently, 83% of trade between China and Chile is in the mining industry, while agriculture and food exports only account for 1% and 3.8%, respectively.

Schmidt said he will work to diversity Chile's exports to Chile and highlighted the results that could come out of distributing more fruit to China.

Schmidt said he believes further work needs to be done to increase Chinese investment in Chile. Last year, Chile invested 120 million USD in China, whereas China only invested 85 million USD in Chile. He would also like to find a way to get more small and medium Chilean businesses entering the Chinese market.

Schmidt told El Mercurio that Chile and China's relationship is an increasingly important one.

According to Schmidt, Chile was the first Latin American country to help China enter the World Trade Organization. Chile is currently the only country in the world that has a Free Trade Agreement with China.

China recently replaced the United States as Chile's top trading partner, and between 2000 and 2009 exports and imports have grown 12 and 8.5 times, respectively.

Despite the significance China holds for Chile's economy, Schmidt said that his embassy's budget is not sufficient considering the importance China holds for Chile.

Shortcomings range from inadequate computers in the embassy to the financial resources at his disposal to promote Chile’s interest in China. As the new ambassador, he would like to be involved in China-Chile relations beyond simple representation.

By Kayla Ruble – Santiago Times