Your Royal Highness, Crown Prince Frederik André of Denmark
Your Royal Highness, Princess Mary Elizabeth of Denmark
Your Excellency Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
Your Excellency Ambassador of Denmark to Chile
Ambassadors and Directors
Members of the Danish delegation accompanying His Royal Highness
Dear friends,
Denmark and Chile have deep historical ties; we are in broad agreement on international issues and have a rich bilateral agenda. We are deeply interested in further expanding this collaboration with a view to driving our growth, through the development of science, technology and innovation, with special regard to renewable energy.
It is with profound gratitude that we recall the great support that Denmark gave us during the negotiations of the Association Agreement with the European Union, which was signed during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union. We also recall that Denmark was the first country to ratify that association agreement, which has certainly born many fruits for both parties.
The fundamental premise underpinning the excellent relationship between Chile and Denmark lies, essentially, on our defense and promotion of democracy , the protection of human rights and economic freedom, which allows us to work coordinately at multilateral fora and in the processes of Summits such as the recent CELAC-EU. During the aforementioned Summit, we promoted a shared vision of sustainable development through the promotion and facilitation of social and environmental quality investment, support to small and medium size enterprises and corporate social responsibility.
The official visit that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik André is paying to Chile, accompanied by Her Royal Highness Princess Mary Elizabeth, is the clearest indicator of the excellent level of our relations. We fondly recall the similar visit that the then Princess and current Sovereign, Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II, in her capacity as Crown Princess, made to Chile in 1966, to whom I would like to convey the warmest greetings and the best memories of the Government and people of Chile.
As the current Monarch did back then, this visit will be a great opportunity for Your Royal Highnesses to get to know this small country. A country on the other side of the world, a country at the finis terrae, which works seriously to do things well in order to continue to grow economically in a strong and steady way, despite the situation of a global economic crisis, and that expects to be able to reach full development in the coming years.
His Royal Highness will have the opportunity to visit different regions and places in our country such as Antofagasta and San Antonio, and will be able to confirm their dynamism, which concentrates and attracts foreign capital - including Danish capital- thanks to the favorable atmosphere for business and legal security that Chile provides to investment, whether domestic or foreign. Among Danish companies present are Vestas, Lauridzen, Worldmanuals and more recently Maersk. Some of them have even set up their regional subsidiaries here.
At Paranal you will be able to learn about the significant efforts we are making jointly with Europe so as to turn Chile into the astronomy capital of the world, efforts that add up to what we are doing in other parts of the country with Japan and the United States.
Another important pillar of our bilateral relations is economic complementarity. Denmark exports high technology in sectors of interest to Chile. For its part, Chile exports to Denmark commodities and food, seafood, wine, among many others. Therefore, Chile extends its warmest welcome to the distinguished business delegation accompanying His Royal Highness representing, among others, fisheries, energy, environmental, agricultural and health sectors, who will attend on Wednesday 13th a comprehensive program of seminars and meetings with their Chilean counterparts.
During your stay in Chile, Your Royal Highness will be able to get acquainted with different parts of our country , meet several senior officials and leading figures from the political, business, academic, social and cultural world. Your visit reflects Denmark's willingness to continue to deepen bilateral ties and allows to learn about the potential both countries offer mutually, in order to consolidate their excellent relationship.
Furthermore, your presence in Chile will bear the name of Denmark to the various areas of Chilean society. I am certain that in the future, these seeds sown with willingness, effort and affection will sprout and bear fruit for the future of ties between Chile and Denmark.
Your Royal Highness,
It is a great honor for me to award you with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Chile, as a token and testimony of the acknowledgement of Chile to the leaders of friendly countries which have outstand for their understanding and closeness to our people.
Through this decoration we do not only express our gratitude for your visit to Chile, but we also symbolize our country's sincere appreciation for Denmark.
Thank you very much