*Chile and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa), marking Chile’s first trade agreement with a country in the Middle East. The agreement, signed by Chile’s President Gabriel Boric and the UAE’s President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as part of Boric’s two-day visit to the country, seeks to improve trade and economic ties between the two countries. In a statement, Boric said that the Cepa “establishes the basis for future negotiations in key areas such as bilateral investment agreements, financial services and includes an environmental chapter”. Under the agreement, Chile will receive better access to the UAE market for around 97% of its exportable products, with exports of nuts, salmon, copper cathodes, potassium and sodium nitrates expected to increase in particular. According to the state Emirates News Agency (Wam) in English, the UAE-Chile Cepa is projected to increase non-oil bilateral trade to US$750m by 2030, more than doubling the US$306m recorded in 2023.On social media, Boric added that Chile and the UAE had also signed “a series of memoranda on food security, agricultural development, investment, space sciences, information technologies and mining”.
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