Above: Dominica (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Dominica and Chile have signed a new visa exemption agreement, the two sides announced.

The agreement covers holders of diplomatic and official passports; it was first submitted as a draft agreement in October of last year.

The official signing took place on Monday at the Ministry of Finance in Roseau.

“You know very well that in these last years diplomatic jobs have changed; we have to move a lot and we need to travel a lot,” said Chile’s Ambassador to Dominica, Eduardo Bonilla. “Many times we have to do this at a last minute’s notice and we cannot plan as we like it. So, this is a very important agreement for my country.”

Alvin Bernard, Ministry of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Dominica, said the signing was a “major step” in the relations between the two countries.

“There are cooperation activities in a number of areas, all of which are very important to the commitment given by the Government of Dominica to its people and the Chilean Government has made a commitment to support the Government of Dominica in this regard,” he said, urging the removal of every possible hindrance for the free movement of officials between the two countries.