ZAGREB, March 18, 2018 - During her official visit to Chile, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović visited the southernmost city of Punta Arenas where she met with the Governor of Magallanes Province and the Chilean Antarctic Territory, Christian Matheson Villan, representatives of the Croatian community in the city and local business people, the President's Office said in a press release.
During the meeting with Matheson Villan, Grabar-Kitarović said that relations between the two countries were very good, but that the time had come to raise them to a higher level.
Grabar-Kitarović said that Chile was Croatia's prospective strategic partner in Latin America thanks to its stable democracy and successful economic model and could therefore help Croatia establish a more significant economic and political presence in Latin America.
Grabar-Kitarović presented decorations to prominent members of the Croatian community for their contribution to the promotion of Croatian culture and language and the preservation of Croatian identity. Punta Arenas has a population of about 146,000 and about half of them are of Croatian descent. Many of the city's streets and squares bear Croatian names.
The president also met with business people of Croatian descent with whom she discussed economic relations between the two countries. She called on them to get more involved in the promotion of economic cooperation, saying there was great potential for stronger cooperation in the defence industry, shipbuilding, using Croatian seaports, tourism and commerce.
Later in the day, the Croatian president is scheduled to visit the Croatian Club in Punta Arenas, meet with Mayor Claudio Radonich, and visit other places of significance for the Croatian community.
