MR. MARCHI - ADDRESS AT THE CANADA-CHILE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT PLENARY SESSION - SANTIAGO, CHILE
98/6 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE
HONOURABLE SERGIO MARCHI
MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE
AT THE
CANADA-CHILE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
PLENARY SESSION
SANTIAGO, Chile
January 21, 1998
This document is also available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Internet site:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
I am delighted to be here today at the dawn of a new year, at a time of new
beginnings, celebrating the start of a new phase in our trading relationship.
Today marks an important milestone in the relationship between our two countries.
As you have heard from Minister Insulza, the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement
[CCFTA] Commission has just met for the first time, and an exciting new stage of
our economic cooperation has begun. We have started to breathe life into the
Agreement we negotiated and to realize the potential that it holds.
Important progress has already been made. The working groups will ensure that the
Agreement functions as it should. And our agreement on double taxation means you
can invest and do business in Canada with confidence.
Together, we are working to ensure that the CCFTA provides a secure foundation for
our expanding partnership.
Canada has great hopes for this relationship. Annual two-way trade between us now
stands at about C$760 million. We see that figure multiplying several-fold in the
coming years. We also see the Free Trade Agreement with Chile as an important
contribution to the cause of freer trade around the globe -- an example for others
to follow.
Chile is the final stop of this Team Canada trade mission. It has been an
exhilarating couple of weeks. Canadian companies, from every part of the country,
have demonstrated their interest in doing business in Latin America, in putting
down roots here and in becoming long-term partners.
It is appropriate that our trade mission should end here because Chile and Canada
have so much in common. Chile, like Canada, is a global trader, depending heavily
on exports for its national wealth. Like Canada, Chile is a mid-sized nation that
can't afford to limit itself to one market or one region.
Both Chile and Canada have recognized that freer trade is an idea whose time has
come, that the way to future prosperity does not lie in hiding behind
protectionist barriers, but in opening ourselves up to new opportunities, new
ideas and new markets.
But we also know that many people feel anxious about globalization -- in our own
countries, and right around the world. Those concerns must be addressed. We have
to demonstrate to people that there's a place for them in the exciting future that
is unfolding and reassure them that they will be able to participate in its
prosperity.
That is why the side agreements on labour and environment are so important. These
agreements, which are well on their way to being implemented, are really about
people. They are about broadening the benefits of freer trade and ensuring that
the reduction and elimination of trade barriers bring real benefits to the lives
of our citizens.
I can tell you, quite candidly, that the move to freer trade for Canada has not
always been easy. Adjustments had to be made. Attitudes had to be changed. But I
can also say, without hesitation, that it's been worth it.
The numbers speak for themselves: Our exports are up more than 45 percent in just
four years. Each year, we seem to set a new record trade surplus. Our trade with
the United States now amounts to more than one billion Canadian dollars every day.
Foreign investment in Canada has soared since 1993, and more than one million new
jobs have been created in the last four years.
It is interesting to note that the effectiveness of our more open approach to
trade is reflected not only in hard numbers, but also in the hearts and minds of
Canadians. Seventy percent of Canadians now support freer trade. Support for the
NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] in particular is up from just 37
percent in 1993 to 63 percent today.
Canadians no longer see trade as some obscure topic that is only of interest to
economists and politicians. They see its connection with their jobs and its
relevance to their lives. They see the opportunities it brings and they see
themselves competing successfully on the international stage.
Canadians recognize that their continued economic prosperity means looking beyond
their own frontiers. That's why we're so excited about our relationship with
Chile. This region is increasingly important to Canada.
While we look forward to the day when Chile takes its rightful place at the NAFTA
table, we were not prepared to wait for the U.S. Congress. We negotiated the
[Canada-Chile] Free Trade Agreement because Canada has confidence in Chile.
We see Chile as a natural gateway for exports, investments and partnerships with
the entire region. That process -- of seeing Chile as a base for operations -- is
already well under way. Canada is already the second largest foreign investor in
Chile and a number of Canadian companies have established substantial operations
there -- companies such as:
B.C. Bearings, which now has three offices in Chile supplying high-quality ball
bearings to the mining and forestry sectors;
Placer Dome, with its huge Zaldivar and La Coipa copper and gold mines,
employing many Chileans in the Second and Third Regions;
Newbridge Networks, which together with its local Coasin subsidiary, is
providing Chile and other countries in the region with high-technology
products and communications solutions;
Novacorp, which has completed a celebrated pipeline project bringing natural
gas to Santiago from Argentina and is pursuing major new opportunities in the
Concepción area; and
Methanex Corporation, with its billion-dollar methanol production facility in
Punta Arenas -- soon to be the largest such plant in the world.
These companies, and many others, have recognized the benefits of Chile's superb
banking and other services. They have seen the advantages Chile offers as a point
of entry into other Latin American markets. And they are already profiting from
the tariff-free access conferred by the Free Trade Agreement between our two
countries.
I know that expanding business opportunities elsewhere in the region will be a
major theme in your plenary later this afternoon, and I would encourage you, as
leaders of the Chilean and Canadian business communities, to make full use of our
Free Trade Agreement as you pursue these other opportunities.
Canadians understand the potential of Chile. They see a dynamic market in a
growing region. They see Chile's stable economy, growing middle class and high
savings rate.
So we were not really surprised when more than 1100 companies attended the
seminars we held across Canada on the Free Trade Agreement. A very strong
foundation has been laid and we have every confidence that great things will be
built upon it.
Speaking of foundations -- as Canada begins the next stage of its work in this
hemisphere, we do so with our own economic house in order. The $42-billion deficit
our government inherited in 1993 is expected to be eliminated by next year. Our
economy is growing at the highest rate of all G-7 countries, and both inflation
and interest rates in Canada are at their lowest levels in decades. As you can
see, we have both prepared for, and benefited from, a more open trade policy.
I spoke earlier of this as a time of new beginnings. Over the past few days, we
have established many contacts, signed many agreements and advanced many
partnerships. I think every Canadian on this trip will come away with a sense of
the possibilities here.
Many have come to see themselves as connected to this region, perhaps not by
birth, as I am, or even by formal partnership, but certainly by outlook and
philosophy. We have added a Latin beat to our enthusiasm for freer trade.
As we look ahead, we see exciting opportunities for mutual benefit. We see Chile
and Canada playing a great role at a historic moment. We are partners at the WTO
[World Trade Organization], working together in pursuit of broad trade
liberalization. We are partners in APEC [the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum], reaching out across the Pacific to develop new forms of co-operation.
Beyond that, we see a Free Trade Area of the Americas [FTAA].
During our Commission meeting earlier today, Minister Insulza and I reaffirmed our
mutual commitment to the launch of the FTAA negotiations at the Summit meeting in
Santiago in April. We recognized that there is a shared desire, and a unique
opportunity, to build a true sense of community in the hemisphere -- and that this
was an opportunity we could not afford to miss.
In that effort, Chile and Canada must work together. Geography has not made us
neighbours, but history has made us friends and commerce is making us partners.
Let us develop that partnership, expand its scope, extend its benefits and give
all of our people the opportunity to lead better lives.
We have taken an important step in that direction today. But we know there is
still much more to do. So let us remember the wise words of Cervantes, "del dicho
al hecho hay gran trecho" -- "from word to deed, long strides we need." Let us have
the courage to take those long strides.