The enlargement of the European Union (EU) opens new possibilities of business and cooperation for Chile, the government said Saturday.

The 10 new EU members, with a total population of 75 million, will automatically implement the Chile-EU Political, Economic and Cooperation Association Agreement.

On trade with the new EU members, the tax reductions will be valid as of Saturday when they were formally admitted into the EU.

According to the Chile-EU agreement, which came into effect in February 2003, the two sides would lower tariffs to zero within the next 10 years.

Given the low level of trade with the new members, more possibilities will be created for those products that have not been exported previously, especially those of higher added value.

In 2003, Chilean shipments to the 10 EU new members reached 27.3 million US dollars, reporting a 35.2 percent growth from a year earlier.

The new members are Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Source: Xinhua