Pretoria — South Africa and Chile are to advance bilateral political, economic and trade relations at the 3rd Joint Consultative Mechanism.

South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad will on Wednesday depart for Santiago, Chile where he is scheduled to co-chair, together with Under-Secretary Alberto van Klaveren, the forum between Chile and South Africa on Thursday.

This 3rd session of the Joint Consultative Mechanism seeks to add stature and profile to South Africa's relationship with Chile while expanding the good bilateral relations which already exist in a number of fields, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday.

The discussions between Deputy Minister Pahad and Under-Secretary van Klaveren are expected to include evaluating bilateral relations in a variety of areas and to provide impetus for their expansion in order to mirror the sound political relations which already exist.

The two will also consolidate the political like-mindedness and goodwill existing between South Africa and Chile in both bilateral and multilateral contexts.

While in Chile, Deputy Minister Pahad will also appraise the Chilean leadership on the development of the African Union and its institutions including NEPAD with a view to increasing awareness of and support for the African agenda.

South African investments in Chile are estimated by the Chile-South African Chamber of Commerce to be between $6-8 billion, in mining; leisure and entertainment; aquaculture, food production; and the wine industry.

Trade relations between the both countries amounts to approximately $150 million a year.

South African companies regularly participate in large international trade shows in Chile, such as EXPOMIN and EXPONORD (mining); FIDAE (aviation); and EXPONAVAL (naval).

On a smaller scale, trade shows specialising in such industries as tourism, wine-making, food production, transport, and forestry are also attended by South African companies.