On September 19, President Chen Shui-bian received Jaime Ravinet de la Fuente, former Defense Minister of Chile, at the Office of the President.
In the meeting, President Chen expressed his appreciation for his guest's efforts to promote exchanges between Taipei and Santiago, capital of Chile, referring to the fact that Mr. Ravinet de la Fuente, then mayor of Santiago, supported the City of Taipei to join the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) and to host the World Capitals Forum (WCF) in 1998. The forum turned out to be a great success with more than 30 mayors from all over the world attending.
President Chen also spoke to his guest of Taiwan-Chile relations. President Chen said that in 2005, the trade between Taiwan and Chile surpassed US$ 1.3 billion while Chile enjoyed a US$ 900 million surplus. Taiwan is the 14th largest trade partner of Chile and the 10th largest market for Chile's products. On the other hand, Chile is Taiwan's 3rd largest trade partner in South America. President Chen added that in the future, Taiwan and Chile could further cement their relations through trade and business cooperation and the signing of a Free Trade Agreement.
Also present at the meeting were Patricio Fainberg, director of Chilean Trade Office, Taipei, Vice Foreign Minister Javier Ching-shan Hou and Deputy Secretary-General to the President Liu Shyh-fang.