Marcos eyes ‘great potential’ in Phl-Chile cooperation

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is looking forward to stronger trade and diplomatic ties with Chile especially in the agriculture sector as he met with the Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren.

On Friday, Marcos welcomed Chile’s top diplomat at Malacañang Palace and discussed how the two countries could help each other. 

“I’ll make certain that everything, the time that you spend here will be as productive as possible and would further the relations between our two countries,” he said. 

“And that is I think the best way forward in this very interconnected world,” he added.

Marcos lamented that distance used to be a problem between the Philippines and Chile.

Strengthening agricultural investments and bilateral relations

The Philippines is looking for a partner in cacao cultivation and processing, which, according to Marcos, Chile could help. 

“Because [cacao] is becoming a very important crop — slowly becoming an important crop. We are trying to promote it. And you have, I think the best technologies when it comes to that product,” he told Klaveren.

He added that the Philippines is also looking into other investment opportunities that it could offer Chile.

Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque was also present during the call and offered fish and minerals export from Mindanao for possible investment.

“[There are] skin beauty products and other things that we can [explore on]… And also the agriculture sector and the seafood products that we can export to them,” she said.

Roque also mentioned the deep sea port that opened in Peru for the benefit of Asian products going to South America.

Meanwhile, Marcos expressed gratitude to Chile for its support for the Philippines’ bid to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the term 2027-2028. In return, Marcos assured Chile that the Philippines would support its candidature to the same body for the term 2029-2030.

For his part, Klaveren said that his visit to the Philippines has been productive and was honored to be received in Malacañang.

Apart from expanding trade between Chile and the Philippines through the Department of Trade and Industry, the Chilean official also met with his counterpart Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

“We have had a very productive meeting with Secretary Manalo… and we talked about our bilateral relations, about regional and global issues, and the potential of our bilateral relations,” Klaveren said.

The Philippines and Chile established diplomatic relations on 4 July 1946. The two countries celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2021.

Last year, Chile was the Philippines’ 49th trading partner, out of 230, 47th export market, out of 205, and 50th import supplier, out of 221.