HK, Chile ink investment deal at APEC meeting

Hong Kong and Chile have signed a bilateral investment agreement on the sidelines of an Asian-Pacific summit in Peru. The Hong Kong government said yesterday that the deal provides for investment disputes to be settled under internationally recognized rules.

The deal also allows for compensation if investments are expropriated, and gives investors the right to freely transfer abroad their investments and returns.

Hong Kong Commerce Secretary Gregory So and Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz signed the deal at the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation Forum on Friday.

It follows a free trade agreement that the Chinese financial hub and Latin American country signed in 2012.

More than 1,000 delegates from 21 countries, representing nearly two-fifths percent of the world’s population, are in Lima for the APEC forum aimed at easing global commerce. — AP