MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Minister Swire representing the UK as the inauguration of President Bachelet

The minister for Latin America with the outgoing Chilean president Piñera (Pic by Twitter)

Hugo Swire MP, Minister of State for Latin America in the British Foreign Office is in Chile representing the UK at the inauguration of President Michelle Bachelet. In addition to attending official activities as part of the presidential inauguration, Minister Swire’s program will be focused on strengthening UK-Chile ties in areas such as trade and investment, science and innovation and education.

 Mr. Swire looks forward to meeting members of the new government and part of his program also covers meetings with senior representatives of the business community and a reunion with Chevening and UK scholars.

This is the second visit to Chile by Minister Swire, who was part of the British delegation during the EU-CELAC Summit in January 2013.

Minister Swire said he was delighted to be visiting Chile again. “Chile is a valuable partner for the UK with whom ties go back over 200 years. We are looking forward to continuing to work closely on bilateral and international issues where we share common interests”.

He added that the last few years have been an exciting time for Chile/UK relations, especially in the fields of trade and investment, education and green growth.

“There is also great potential to deepen our contacts on science and innovation, areas in which we expect to increase collaboration during 2014”.

From Chile Mr. Swire flies to Uruguay where he is expected on Wednesday 12 March for a full agenda of political and trade contacts including meeting acting president Vice-president Danilo Astori and members of Parliament.