Photo: Courtesy of Embassy of Chile in China

Mauricio Hurtado, the ambassador of Chile in China, attended the "First Coordinators' Meeting of the Belt and Road International Cooperation Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management" in Beijing on February, 15. Hurtado participated in the event as the guest of honor and delivered a speech in front of representatives of member countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and officials from the Ministry of Emergency Management of China. Hurtado stressed the importance of international cooperation in the face of emergencies in Chile, such as COVID-19 and fires currently affecting the south-central region of the country.

He briefed the progress made in the framework of the China-CELAC Forum and the opportunities for cooperation offered by the BRI to mitigate the impact of natural disasters on people's lives. He also emphasized the importance of developing flexible and efficient early warning systems, better coordination of local and international requests to achieve adequate and timely communication. The BRI is the main foreign policy and infrastructure development strategy currently implemented as part of China's international agenda. On November 2, 2018, Chile and China signed an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding to establish a cooperation mechanism in this regard.