Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Muñoz, met privately with his counterpart from the Netherlands, Albert Gerard Koenders. Afterwards, the two leaders spearheaded a high-level meeting with delegations from both countries that involved reviewing regional and global topics of common interest.
At the meeting they signed two letters of intent, one related to hydraulic resources management and the other referring to sustainable port development.
At the end of the meeting, the ministers made a joint declaration. In addition to stating how pleased the Chilean government was with the Dutch Minister's visit, Foreign Minister Muñoz highlighted the great affinity and friendship that exists between the two nations.
"Chile has a great appreciation for the Netherlands, because we have received their solidarity in difficult times as an expression of their support for the recovery of democracy and respect for human rights", noted the Secretary of State, adding that "twenty-five years later, we have an excellent bilateral relationship, the cornerstone of which is the commitment to democracy and human rights."
The Foreign Minister stressed that besides the signing of the letters of intent, several topics of common interest were also addressed, including cooperation between the two countries. Furthermore, the Head of Chilean Diplomacy claimed that they have agreed to "move forward with topics such as climate change, migration and other global challenges with which we share common views."
For his part, the Minister of the Netherlands stated that both countries have "close ties in social, cultural and economic fields," adding that there are several elements that unite them, such as the number of inhabitants, the importance given to trade and the multilateral relations, and their beliefs in international legislation. "Today we have strengthened our bonds of bilateral cooperation regarding a few specific issues", he concluded.