The United States and Chile said on Tuesday that they will deepen the bilateral relationship based on scientific cooperation, especially the clean energy research.
"One of the things that we've discussed here is how we can continually deepen that relationship. So we are announcing cooperative projects on clean energy," U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters after meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet in the White House.
"There is enormous interest, both in the United States and in Chile, on how we can develop solar power and wind power, biofuels and a whole host of other clean energy strategies that will make the people of both countries more prosperous and less dependent on imported energy needs," said Obama.
"We are really enthusiastic about clean energies as we share the idea that the crisis should be responded — also trying to tackle with climate change issues. And green clean energy will be very important. I would say I support in this direction," said Bachelet.
Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his Chilean counterpart Marcelo Tokman signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to further collaboration between the two nations on a series of energy issues, such as energy efficiency technologies and developing renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, wave, geothermal and biofuels.
The Memorandum establishes an institutional framework between Chile and the United States that will facilitate a broader range of cooperation and exchange activities, including U.S. technical expertise to support operations for Chile's new Renewable Energy Center.
