He is a graduate of the Diplomatic School of Chile and holds a BA degree in Economics from Fordham University in NYC. He also completed a graduate program in Political Science at City University of New York. He has served in various capacities both in Chile and abroad. Among them, he served at the Mission of Chile to the
UN, the Embassy of Chile in the United States, the Embassy of Chile to the German Democratic Republic and at the Embassy of Chile in Germany.
He was Ambassador of Chile to Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam (2004-2008) and Ambassador of Chile to Japan (2010-2016).
In Chile, he served as Director of South American Affairs,Director of European Affairs, Director General of Consular and Immigration Affairs and as Secretary General of Foreign Policy.
He taught Chilean Foreign Policy at the Diplomatic School of Chile. Since 2019, he is Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.
We interviewed Ambassador Torres on the following issues: (i) the impact of Covid-19 in Chile; (ii) the “energy revolution” in Chile; and (iii) the impotance of multilateralism, as well as Chile’s bilateral relations with China and the United States, No.1 and No.2 trade partners respectively. Possible impacts that the disputes between China and the United States might have on Chile are also discussed.
Thanks to a successful vaccination campaign and the initiation of a third dose vaccination to the Chileans older than 55 years old, together with a significant additional fiscal spending, to support small and medium-sized enterprises, and to sustain the ongoing economic recovery, Ambassador Torres thinks that a strong
recovery is already underway this year with a probable increase in GDP of 7.5%.
He also stresses the importance of the “energy revolution” that Chile has been experiencing in just about all sectors, even before and amid Covid-19. Ambassador Torres states that this radical shift toward a new energy matrix based on non-traditional clean energy sources will possibly transform Chile into the most important
producer and exporter of “green hydrogen” in the world.
In the ambassador’s view, policy dialogues on multilaralism with a wide range of stakeholders are of upmost importance for Chile. Chile is an open economy, and there is a great need to safeguard itself from any disruptions in the global economy. Referring to the current negotiations between Chile and the European Union, the ambassador considers it fundamental to keep bilateral agreements updated to capture new trade and investment opportunities.
You can download whole interview as below. Format is pdf.
