Chile, HK ink free trade accord

SANTIAGO -- Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Friday signed a Free Trade Agreement with China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to boost bilateral trade which currently stands at more than $500 million.

At a sideline event of the 20th summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in the Russian city of Vladivostok, Pinera said the accord contained and expanded on almost every aspect of interest to both parties.

The accord aims to join the forces of Hong Kong's innovative and technologically advanced economy with Chile's, "which is also an economy that is growing, that is innovating, that is progressing towards fulfilling its objective of turning Chile into a developed country," said Pinera.

According to the latest Global Competitiveness Report, released this week by the World Economic Forum, Chile's economy is the most competitive in Latin America, ranking 33rd among a list of 144 countries worldwide.

Arriving in Vladivostok, Pinera said Chile was "eager to participate in the issues proposed by this APEC summit, including free trade, combating protectionism, transparency and the fight against corruption."

Chile is attending the summit with the "firm intention of starting Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Indonesia and of starting feasibility studies with Russia and other countries," he added.

Summit members are also dwelling on food security and innovative development, "topics of interest to Chile, in which we hope to not only take part, but also contribute," said Pinera.

Hong Kong has one of the world's most open and competitive economies, especially in providing financial and maritime services.

Its strategic location on China's southeast coast has made it a gateway for goods, services, and investments to and from China and emerging economies in the Pacific Rim.