Chile invited to participate in G-20 Summit in Mexico

Minister Alfredo Moreno (center) speaks with I Love Chile owner Daniel Brewington (left), Photo: Amanda Savinon

SANTIAGO — Chile’s Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno and Finance Minister Felipe Larrain, announced Thursday that Chile has been invited to participate this year in the Group of Twenty (G-20) , which brings together the world’s major economies.

“This news fills us with satisfaction, because it places Chile along with the great powers in the discussion of the most relevant global issues,” Minister Moreno said.

The G-20 brings together the world’s major economies. It is made up of 19 member countries plus the European Union, which together represent approximately 90 percent of global GDP, 80 percent of global trade and two-thirds of the world’s population.

“For the first time, Chile has been invited to participate in this summit of world importance. For the first time, we will sit with the principal political leaders of major powers to discuss, at the same time, global issues and seek solutions together, where we are certain that Chile can contribute,” Moreno said.

Minister Moreno stated that Chile’s participation in the summit comes from a special invitation from the government of Mexico, a request of President Felipe Calderon.

“We see this gesture in recognition of Chile’s international standing, to its way of doing things and to the reliability and economic efficiency and creative ideas that Chile can offer,” Moreno said.

Mexico is hosting and chairing this year’s G-20 Summit, making this the first time  it will be held in Latin America.

“Previous summits may not have taken into account the views of middle-income countries, as is the case of Chile, therefore, we think that this invitation provides legitimacy and representation to this meeting of G-20,“  Moreno said.

He said the intention is to represent the whole region because Chile holds the Presidency of Community of Latin American and Caribbean (ECLAC) in 2012.