Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
The President of the Republic of Chile, Mr Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle will pay a state visit to South Africa on 12-13 November 1998.
This will be the first visit by a democratically elected Chilean President to South Africa. The visit of President Frei reflects the importance which South Africa attaches to the continued development of relations with the South American region and is an indication of the positive nature of relations between South Africa and Chile. President Frei will be accompanied by the Chilean Foreign Minister, Mr. Jose Miguel Insulza, and a group of high level businessmen.
President Frei will hold discussions with President Mandela and Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, and Foreign Minister Insulza will meet with the South African Foreign Minister, Mr Alfred Nzo. The Chilean President will also visit the Hector Petersen Memorial in Soweto.
Chile and South Africa are both members of a number of important multilateral organisations, such as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Antarctic Treaty and the Valdivia Group, as well as members of their respective regional organisations, such as MERCOSUR (Chile) and SADC (South Africa). The two countries share many common interests in matters which fall under the jurisdiction of these organisations and therefore stronger bilateral relations will also impact on the depth of cooperation between Chile and South Africa within these regional and multilateral forums.
Chile, with a GDP of R389 bn (197), is used by many economists as an example of a relatively small economy which has managed to show good economic growth while at the same time protecting itself to a large degree from the instability created by sudden outflows of capital. In 1997, Chile was given an "A" investment rating by Standard and Poor and the country ranked within the top 10 countries, as far as productivity was concerned. Chile leads the world in copper production, with a fourth of global reserves, while fruit is its second most important export. Chile is also the world leader in the production of nitrate and lithium.
Last year, total bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to approximately R716 million, which represented a 14% increase over 1996. South Africa's exports to Chile cover a broad spectrum of goods, with chemicals, machinery, elevators/conveyers and iron and steel being the most prominent.
South Africa is currently the third largest foreign investor in Chile, after the United States and Canada, with approximately R8,2 billion invested in mining. The single largest investment project undertaken in Chile between 1974 and 1995, valued at R10 billion, is a joint venture between Anglo American and the Canadian mining house, Falconbridge. Other mining houses such as Billiton are also exploring business opportunities in the Chilean mining sector.
Many high level visits, in both directions, have taken place in recent years, including visits by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and Minister Kader Asmal to Chile during 1997, and by Chilean Ministers Adriana Delpiano and then-Minister Ricardo Lagos to South Africa in 1997 and 1998 respectively.
A number of bilateral agreements are scheduled for signature during the visit of President Frei. These include:
- a Memorandum of Understanding on Issues of Mutual Interest
- an Agreement on the Reciprocal Protection of Investments.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 8 NOVEMBER 1998