Chile and India begin negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
The presidential tour of India took place between April 1 and 6, with a multi-sector delegation led by President Gabriel Boric and comprised of government officials, ProChile, Corfo, InvestChile, and representatives from the business community. In New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, Chile deployed an intense political and trade agenda focused on strengthening bilateral relations, diversifying exports, and opening up that market.
In this context, and given the possibility of India becoming a new trade destination for Chilean products, key sectors such as agri-food, services, and creative industries attracted the Asian country's interest. One of the sectors that generated the most attention was pork and poultry, given that it meets priority needs of the local market: more than one billion meat consumers, cows considered sacred, limited local pork production, and a growing demand for safe, safe, and high-quality food.
Juan Carlos Domínguez, president of ChileCarne and part of the delegation that accompanied the president to India, stated, “With 1.4 billion inhabitants, India will likely quickly become the world's third-largest economy. Therefore, we as a country must intensify these market openings, seek new and better places to sell our products and thus avoid depending on third countries. Opening markets is not an option; it's part of a national policy that allows us to continue developing our beloved agriculture. Even more so today, faced with an increasingly uncertain international landscape, marked by trade tensions and tariff wars, this openness must remain the priority.”
Agreements and conventions between Chile and India
During his stay in the Asian nation's capital, President Boric met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the official start of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was announced. The meeting marked the formal beginning of a process that seeks to strengthen and modernize the bilateral economic ties, in place since 2007 under a partial agreement, and which opens a new chapter in the economic relationship between Chile and India.
For ChileCarne, this visit represents concrete progress in the sanitary opening of a priority market with high growth potential and a growing demand for quality food. “The private sector longed for the president to make this visit and build bridges. The start of these negotiations is good news, a very positive sign, as it could reduce tariffs and facilitate the entry of new products into this large market. In a country like Chile, where the development of the agricultural sector depends largely on exports, having more and better destinations is key,” said Domínguez.
Another concrete milestone of the visit was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ProChile and the Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI). This agreement, signed in Mumbai, seeks to boost the export of Chilean food and beverages to the Indian market by facilitating joint work between the two organizations to promote events, exchange information, and generate connections between importers and exporters. "Chile is very interested in strengthening food exports to India; this is a dynamic economy with a growing consumer market, which, according to organizations such as the FAO and OECD, will account for nearly a fifth of all growth in global food demand in the next decade," said ProChile's Director General, Ignacio Fernández.
A new boost for Chilean agriculture
These announcements made it clear that one of the sectors with the greatest potential to take advantage of this new era is the agri-food sector. India is not only a market with a growing and demanding population, but also an economy seeking to strengthen its food security through agreements with reliable countries that maintain high standards. In this context, the Chilean agricultural sector played a prominent role in the official delegation and in the trade promotion activities carried out during the visit.
The Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, who was part of the official delegation, praised the role of the agricultural sector in this new bilateral initiative: “We want to improve relations of cooperation and commercial, cultural, and political exchange between Chile and India. Chile has been very important, as it was the first country in Latin America to recognize India's independence (…) And our agricultural sector has structural exchanges with India,” he stated. He added: "We export close to $300 million in agricultural and forestry products. But we want to grow, and that's why our sector is so important in this visit".
The meat market in India: key data to understand its potential
India positioned itself as the sixth most important destination for Chilean exports in 2024, with shipments worth more than US$2.5 billion, an 86% increase over the previous year. Although significant challenges persist in terms of tariffs, the country is projected to become a strategic destination for meat exporters, especially in premium segments. With an expanding urban population, a more demanding middle class, and growing modern sales channels, Indian meat consumption opens a concrete window for Chile.
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