By meeting with Croatian expats, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić wrapped up her visit to Chile.
Pusić delivered to representatives of Croatian associations HRK 500,000 for six projects, provided by the State Office for Croats Abroad.
An estimated 200,000 citizens of Croatian descent live in Chile, accounting for 1.3% of the population of that Latin American country. Most of those residents are third, fourth or fifth-generation descendants of Croats, highly educated, distinguished, and participating in the executive, legislative and judicial government, as well as in economy, culture and arts.
Some of the more well-known Croat clubs are Estadio Croata in Santiago, Club Croata in Punta Arenas, Sociedad Croata de Socorrors Mutuos in Antofagasta and Club Croata in Iquique.
The education in the Croatian language for some 100 pupils is organised in Punta Arenas as well as in Santiago.
Pusić commended the Croat community for its efforts to preserve its Croat identity in Chile, hopeful that the donation would help the Croat clubs and the realization of projects.
She also expressed belief that the Croatian-Chilean cooperation would only grow stronger in the future, a topic she discussed the day before with President Michelle Bachelet and Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz.
Croatia and Chile have inked 16 agreements. Given Croatia’s EU membership and the EU-Chile Free Trade Agreement, the two countries are currently adapting their cooperation to the new framework.
The trade between Croatia and Chile totalled a modest 1.45 million US dollars in the first ten months of 2014. Croatia mostly exports cattle feed and industrial machines to Chile and imports mostly fish. As for tourism, last year some 5,600 Chileans visited Croatia, a 16% rise in relation to 2013. The Croatian-descendant Luskic family is a major investor in Croatia’s tourist industry.