Chile and U.S. expressed their commitment to triangular cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean, replicable in other regions such as Asia Pacific

Washington, July 1, 2014.- During President Michelle Bachelet´s current visit to the United States, Chile and the U.S. reconfirmed their commitment, originally established in 2010, to triangular cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Muñoz, signed a Memorandum of Understanding and a Declaration of Intent, reiterating the interest of both governments to cooperate, especially in the Caribbean, initially with Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, as well as expressing their intention to expand this joint cooperation to other regions, particularly Asia Pacific.

For cooperation in other regions of the world, beyond Latin America and the Caribbean, the following priority areas were defined: democratic governance, strengthening of export capacity, food safety, prevention and response to natural disasters, socioeconomic inclusion, and public safety, among others. In the Caribbean, U.S. - Chilean cooperation will initially focus on issues such as evaluation of public investments in Haiti; integration of at-risk youth into the formal labor market in the Dominican Republic; and good governance and gender-based violence in Jamaica. Additionally, the parties expressed their desire to continue working with other Caribbean countries in the future.

Both documents, the Memorandum of Understanding and the Declaration of Intent were signed this morning in Washington by the Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz and John F. Kerry, Secretary of State of the United States.

"The signing of these instruments is an eloquent expression of the strength, quality and maturity of the relationship with the United States, and emphasizes cooperation as one of the pillars of our foreign policy. In its role as a middle-income country, Chile can share experiences and lessons learned with other countries. Chile has demonstrated its capacity to implement trilateral cooperation, through various projects in the Americas. After signing these documents, we hope to strengthen our work together through new development projects especially in Central America and the Caribbean, which are as close to Chile as they are to the United States," said Minister Muñoz.

To date, the governments of Chile and the United States, led by the International Cooperation Agency of Chile (AGCI) and its counterpart USAID, respectively, have implemented triangular cooperation projects in El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay.

"Sharing our experiences developing effective public policies with countries in our region and expanding this collaboration to new regions, emphasizes reciprocal partnerships and highlights how triangular cooperation can be an instrument for integration and strengthening public institutions,” said Ricardo Herrera, Executive Director of AGCI. The representative underscored the commitment of Chile and the United States to the development of Latin America and the Caribbean and emphasized how the inclusion of new regions, such as Asia-Pacific, will be a venue for mutual learning and exchanges.

His counterpart, Mark Feierstein, Associate Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), stated: "By working collaboratively, we leverage one another’s diverse knowledge, capacities, and perspectives to help Caribbean countries prosper. As we’ve seen over the past few years of this partnership, we achieve better results when we benefit from the lessons learned by countries like Chile”.

During their meeting at the White House, Presidents Michelle Bachelet and Barak Obama also discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the areas of energy, education, science and technology, among others.