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Chile is one of New Zealand's longest standing and closest friends in Latin America. The New Zealand Embassy has been operating in Santiago since 1972. Chile established an Embassy in Wellington the same year. In November 2002, celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Embassy in Chile included a visit to Santiago by Dame Malvina Major. The two foreign ministries hold regular foreign policy consultations covering a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues.
New Zealand and Chile maintain close contact in a number of multilateral fora on issues such as the law of the sea, nuclear disarmament, Antarctica, human rights, fisheries and agricultural trade. The first multilateral foreign policy talks were held in March 2008 in Santiago. New Zealand and Chile are co sponsors, along with Australia, of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation. Chile hosted the International Whaling Commission in Santiago in June this year.
The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (known as P4), between New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei, provides the framework for the trade and economic relationship between these countries. The agreement provisionally entered into force for New Zealand and Singapore on 1 May 2006, for Brunei on 12 July 2006, and for Chile on 8 November 2006. A binding Environment Cooperation Agreement and a binding Labour Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding, which had been negotiated as part of the P4 package, were signed concurrently. P4 was designed as a model regional trade agreement that could attract broader participation as a pathway towards a future free trade agreement of Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). The agreement is open to accession “on terms to be agreed among the parties, by any APEC economy or other state”.
As part of the original outcome of negotiations in 2005 it was agreed to begin negotiations on financial services and investment within two years of entry into force. The negotiations are now underway with the United States joining the negotiations while it considers possible participation in a comprehensive free trade agreement with P4. Two meetings between P4 partners and the US on investment and financial services were held in the first quarter of 2008, the second was hosted by New Zealand. A further round is scheduled to be held later this year.
Read more on the P4 page of this website.
A Primary Sector Cooperation Agreement was signed in May 2004. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s Food Value Chain project provides additional focus in the agri-tech and food sectors. Chile is also looking to New Zealand to provide training for farm workers and managers.
A Strategic Alliance between New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and its Chilean counterpart, CORFO, was signed during President Bachelet’s visit to New Zealand in November 2006. This has further committed both agencies to promote and facilitate commercial partnerships. Chile has been a central focus in Latin America for New Zealand’s business interests, particularly in the dairy and agri-business sectors.
An Open Skies Agreement was signed in October 1998, although this was subsequently suspended when both New Zealand and Chile signed the Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalisation of International Air Transportation (MALIAT).
An Arrangement on naval cooperation was signed in July 1996 to facilitate exchanges of information between the Chilean Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Education Cooperation
A bilateral Arrangement on education cooperation was signed on April 4 2004. The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (P4) of May 2005 makes provision for trade in education services between Chile and New Zealand. An Education Counsellor for Latin America was appointed to work in the New Zealand Embassy in Santiago in July 2007.
Almost all New Zealand universities and some polytechnics have cooperation agreements in place with counterparts in Chile. Victoria University has agreements with Conicyt (Chile’s National Commission for Science and Technology); the University of Chile, the Catholic University of Chile, and the University of Valparaiso. Auckland University has agreements with the University of Chile and the Catholic University of Chile, and sends language students to the Catholic University of Valparaiso. AUT has agreements with the Catholic University and the Universidad Mayor. Lincoln University has agreements with the Catholic University and the Universidad Austral. Otago University has agreements with the University of Chile, the Catholic University of Chile, and the Universidad Adolfo Ibanez.
Student Exchanges
In 2007, 454 Chilean students studied in New Zealand including: 49 students in compulsory education; 96 Chilean students in universities and polytechnics; and 309 in Private Training Establishments (including English Language providers). Three Chilean students were awarded New Zealand International Doctoral Research Scholarships (NZIDRS) in 2005. Chilean students have also studied in New Zealand under Presidential Scholarships awarded by Chile’s Ministry of Planning. The New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) offers up to two New Zealand Development Scholarships each year to Chileans.
An Arrangement on technical cooperation for biodiversity work was signed in 2002 between Chile’s National Commission on the Environment and New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.
In 2002 an agreement on science and technology cooperation was signed between MORST and the Chilean science and technology agency CONICYT.
Chilean scientists are members of the LEARN (Livestock Emissions Abatement Research Network) and have participated in conferences in New Zealand in 2007 and Uruguay in July 2008
A visa waiver agreement between Chile and New Zealand for visits of up to three months has been in place since 1999. A Working Holiday Scheme was introduced in 2001 in order to promote exchanges between young people from both countries (the first agreement of its type for New Zealand with a Latin American country). Under the Working Holiday Scheme, 1,000 young Chileans may visit New Zealand and 200 young New Zealanders may visit Chile for one year on a working holiday. The demand from Chile has been so strong that New Zealand has unilaterally expanded the scheme, which originally provided for 200 places, to allow 1,000 young Chileans to visit New Zealand.
The introduction of a direct air service between Auckland and Santiago (operated by LAN Chile and Qantas) has greatly facilitated travel between the two countries. Flights are now daily in each direction.
There are special cultural links between New Zealand Maori and the people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, under Chilean administration). These links include a school exchange programme (with Turakina Maori Girls’ College) supported by the New Zealand Government’s Latin America Strategy Fund and, at the tertiary level, a research relationship established by Otago University Maori Studies with Rapa Nui counterparts.
Under the Latin America Strategy, Dr Eugenio Tironi Barrios, a Chilean sociologist and public relations specialist, visited New Zealand as a “Prime Minister’s Fellow” in May 2007. Dr Tironi’s visit focused on issues related to social cohesion, national identity and national well-being.
The New Zealand Embassy in Santiago operates a Head of Mission Fund to support small scale and grassroots development assistance projects. Post-graduate scholarships are offered to Chileans to study in New Zealand, most commonly in agriculture-related fields.
The New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) Latin America Development Programme 2004-2009 includes Chile. It focuses on sustainable rural livelihoods and governance. In addition to several smaller projects, NZAID is supporting a multi-year project to strengthen the capability of indigenous Huilliche (Mapuche) communities in southern Chile to participate in local development processes and improve their livelihoods through tourism. This project won a President’s bicentennial award in December 2007.
See full details of the development relationship on the NZAID website.
There were few exchanges between New Zealand and Chile in the 1970s and 1980s at the time of the Chilean military regime. But since the return of democracy in Chile, there has been new momentum in the relationship. The establishment of the New Zealand Government’s Latin America Strategy in 2000 has provided a valuable framework for this engagement. In March 2000 Prime Minister Helen Clark attended the inauguration of President Ricardo Lagos in Santiago and visited Chile again in November 2001. President Lagos made a state visit to New Zealand in November 2000 and again in May 2004. The Prime Minister attended the APEC Summit meeting in Santiago in November 2004, and in May 2005 the Governor-General made a state visit to Chile, the first ever vice-regal visit to any country in Latin America. The Prime Minister attended the inauguration of President Michelle Bachelet in Santiago, March 2006, and the President paid her first official visit to New Zealand in November 2006.
| Land Area | 756,946 sq km |
| Population | 15,1 million (2002 census), 16.6 million (Chile Reserve Bank 2007 estimate) |
| Capital City | Santiago de Chile (6 million) |
| Religion | Catholic (67.7%), Protestant/Evangelical (15. 1%) (2002 census) |
| Official Language | Spanish |
| Currency | Chilean peso |
| Exchange Rate | US$1 = 495.10CLP [as of 22 July 2008] |
| Political system | Presidential Democracy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National government | Michelle Bachelet of the Partido Socialista (PS) heads the Concertación coalition | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National legislature | Bicameral legislature (Congress): a Senate (the upper house) comprising 38 members elected for eight years and partly renewed every four years; and a Chamber of Deputies (the lower house), with 120 members who are all elected every four years | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last election | 1 April 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Next election due | 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head of State | Michelle Bachelet Jeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head of Government | Michelle Bachelet Jeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Key Ministers |
Ministers as at 22 July 2008 |
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| Main political parties | - National Renewal Party - Democratic Independent Union (make up the right wing Alianza Coalition)
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| GDP | US$ 163.9 billion (2007, Economic Intelligence Unit) | |||||
| GDP breakdown | Goods | 45% | Services | 55% | ||
| GDP per capita | 9,026 (2007, IMF) | |||||
| Real GDP growth | 5.2 (Reserve Bank estimate 2007) | |||||
| Exports | US $68bn (2007, Economic Intelligence Unit) | |||||
| Imports | US$44bn (2007, Economic Intelligence Unit) | |||||
| Main exports | copper, fishmeal, fruits, wood products, paper products, fish, wine | |||||
| Current account | US$8.184 billion (2007 est. CIA World Factbook) | |||||
| Inflation | 3.9 (2007) | |||||
| Gross external debt | US$49.18 billion (year to June 2007, CIA World Factbook) | |||||
| Budget balance | US$16.8billion (Reserve Bank, 2006) | |||||
| NZ Exports (FOB) | NZ$44,856,866 (2008 year to date) |
| Main Exports | Coal NZ$19.3 |
| NZ Imports (CIF) | NZ$21,647,598 (2008 year to date) |
| Main Imports | Grapes NZ$8.0 Copper NZ$3.5 Plywood NZ$2.5 Fish fillets and meat NZ$2.5 Fruit and Notes, frozen NZ$2.4 |
The New Zealand Government safetravel website has comprehensive travel information including advice on the safety and security of travel to various countries. Enquiries may be directed to Consular Division at the following numbers:
Tel: +64 4 439 8000
Fax: +64 4 439 8532
