16 May 2006 - Philippine Ambassador to Santiago, Chile Maria Consuelo Puyat-Reyes reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Embassy promoted Philippine trade and tourism through the Asia Pacific Chamber of Commerce’s trade fair “The Principal Countries and Economies of the Asia Pacific in Chile”, which was held at the Santiago Marriott Hotel on 4 May 2006.

The Philippine Embassy joined fourteen other countries that set up booths in the trade fair.  The Embassy’s booth distributed economic and tourism-related materials and replied to  queries by the businessmen in attendance.  Ambassador Puyat-Reyes led the Embassy’s team in manning the booth with the assistance of Consul Emil Fernandez and Victoria Artificio.  Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Sergio Espejo Yaksic was the quest of honor who went the rounds of all the fifteen booths in the trade fair, the fifth such well-attended event hosted by the Chamber.  (Please refer to the accompanying photo releases on this subject matter.)

Ambassador Puyat-Reyes said that with a reinvigorated thrust in commercial diplomacy, the Philippines realized a trade surplus of US$10.9 million with Chile in 2005, the first time it has done so since 1998.  The Embassy’s records show that Philippine exports to Chile totaled US$19.0 million in 2005, a year-to-year growth of 64%.  Chile was the Philippines’ second largest destination for its exports to the region last year. END