Saskatchewan companies will do more business with Chile under an expanded agricultural agreement signed during a trade mission last week.
In an interview from Chile, economic development minister Janice MacKinnon said the agreement, which builds on a biotechnology deal signed in 1999, focuses on pulse crops, cereals and oilseeds.
“Because there is little arable land here, obviously there are markets,” she said.
Saskatchewan durum exports to Chile have increased more than 30 percent in the last three years, after the Canada-Chile free trade agreement was signed, she said. Pork exports and farm equipment sales increased more than 300 percent.
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“Saskatchewan is number three in Canada in terms of exports to Chile already,” MacKinnon said. “It’s the most fiscally stable country in the region and it’s a good gateway to Latin America.”
She said Chil-eans have to use their agricultural land as efficiently as possible, since there is so little of it. Saskat-chewan biotechnology will help Chile develop crops that are suitable for the terrain and produce higher yields, she said.
Canada Livestock Services of Lloydminster is also on the trade trip, which includes a stop in Panama.
