SANTIAGO – The Canadian Government has announced the addition of a chapter on trade and gender to its 20-year-old free trade agreement with Chile.
According to the Canadian Government, “The trade and gender chapter acknowledges the importance of applying gender perspectives to economic and trade issues to ensure that economic growth benefits everyone, confirms the intention of both parties to enforce their respective international agreements on gender from a rights perspective and provides a framework for Canada and Chile to cooperate on issues related to trade and gender, including women’s entrepreneurship and the development of gender-focused indicators.”
Canada and Chile will create a trade and gender committee, to oversee cooperation and facilitate the sharing of experiences in designing programs to encourage women’s participation in national and international economies.
The Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement entered into force in July 1997. Bilateral merchandise trade has more than tripled in the last 20 years, reaching almost CAD2.4bn (USD1.8bn) in 2016.
