Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Trade has stressed UAE keenness to strengthen economic, trade and investment relations, with the countries of Latin America, especially Chile in the coming period. Abdullah Al Saleh said this during a meeting held on Wednesday with the Director of ProChile, the Export Promotion Bureau of Chile, Felix de Vicente and his accompanying delegation at the headquarters of the ministry on the sidelines of ‘Gulfood’ exhibition that held this week in Dubai, where Chile also participed. Al Saleh noted that there are still many areas for collaboration and valuable opportunities to expand trade co-operation base between Chile and Dubai. Al Saleh pointed to the importance of exploring further investment opportunities and promoting the strategic partnership between the two countries in various sectors including logistics, food industries, tourism, renewable energy and other economic fields. For his part, Chile’s official hailed United Arab Emirate’s unprecedented cultural achievements at all levels, making it one of the largest and most important partners in the Middle East. He also stressed his government’s interest in strengthening bilateral relations with the UAE. Its noteworthy that the value of trade exchange between the United Arab Emirate  and Chile amounted to $135 million during the first nine months of 2011, a growth rate of 49 per cent compared to the similar period in 2010.