Chile and Australia Launch Strategic Partnership Without a Signature at UN Meeting

CHILE · BUSINESS

Two foreign ministers agreed in New York to begin the work. Nothing was signed, and the two headline items sit at very different stages.

Chile and Australia agreed on Tuesday 22 September 2026 to begin building a Chile-Australia strategic partnership. Their foreign ministers met at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and signed no document.

What the Two Ministers Actually Agreed

Chile’s foreign minister, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, met Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, on Tuesday 22 September 2026. Chile’s foreign ministry said they agreed to begin the path towards a Strategic Partnership.

The Chile-Australia strategic partnership is a political upgrade, not a legal one. No treaty was signed, no memorandum of understanding was published, and no joint declaration was issued.

The contrast was visible in Chile’s own week in New York. A day earlier the same minister signed terms of reference with Morocco to open free trade talks.

Chile and Australia already have a free trade agreement and share membership of the Trans-Pacific trade pact known as the CPTPP. In November 2025 the two governments issued a joint statement marking 80 years of relations.

The Mining Part, in Concrete Terms

Pérez Mackenna described the mining element as cooperation, not a contract. He pointed to better industry practice, more investment, and joint work as producers of critical minerals.

The minerals involved are copper and lithium on the Chilean side. Australia’s strengths are iron ore and lithium, so the overlap sits mainly in lithium and copper.

The mechanism is investment, not regulation or research funding. Australia’s BHP operates Escondida in northern Chile, with Rio Tinto and Japan’s JECO Corporation as the other shareholders.

Rio Tinto, an Anglo-Australian company, has separate lithium agreements with Chile’s state firms Codelco and Enami. No new project, fund or research programme was announced this week.

Trade between the two countries is still modest. Chilean exports to Australia reached US$235 million from January to August 2026, led by gold, central bank figures show.

The Humboldt Cable and the Chile-Australia Strategic Partnership

The Humboldt cable is the most concrete item the two ministers discussed. It is a Google project built with Desarrollo País, Chile’s state infrastructure company.

One leg will run about 14,800 kilometres from Santo Domingo, near Valparaíso, to Sydney. A second leg will link Santo Domingo with Panama City over about 6,500 kilometres.

The whole system is more than 21,000 kilometres long and passes through French Polynesia. Chile’s government puts the investment at more than US$300 million; industry estimates are near US$400 million.

Google and Desarrollo País signed the contract for Humboldt Connect, the venture that will sell capacity, in June 2025. Google funds most of the build.

A regional coastal commission in Valparaíso approved installation and operation on 19 June 2026. Installation is expected in the last quarter of 2026, with service from 2028.

Australia’s role is as the landing country, not the financier. The cable is expected to come ashore at Maroubra Beach in Sydney.

The timetable has slipped more than once. Service was first promised for 2026, then the first half of 2027, and is now set for 2028.

Why a Pacific Data Cable Matters to Chile

Today most data between South America and Asia travels through the United States. Humboldt would be the first direct route between the two regions.

A direct route cuts the distance and the delay, known as latency. It also adds a second path if another cable is damaged.

That matters for money, not only for engineering. Cheap, fast and reliable capacity is what data centre operators look for before they commit.

Chile wants to be the region’s digital gateway, and already hosts a Google data centre and cloud region. It also plans land links so Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil can use the route.

What It Means for Expats and Investors

Nothing in the Chile-Australia strategic partnership changes taxes, visas or investment rules today. It is a signal of direction, not a new set of rights or obligations.

For mining investors, the practical effect is easier official contact between Santiago and Canberra. That can help with introductions and meetings, though it guarantees no project.

For technology firms and remote workers in Chile, the cable is the item to watch. Better links to Asia could support data centres, cloud services and faster connections.

Chile is also bidding for Valparaíso to host the secretariat of the new High Seas Treaty. The ministers raised that bid in the same meeting.

What Is Not Yet Known

There is no date for signing a partnership document, and no venue has been named. The full scope of the partnership has not been published.

The mining element has no project list, no budget and no timetable. It is not known whether it will cover research, regulation or only investment promotion.

Australia has not announced any funding for the Humboldt cable. The next real test is simple: whether cable laying starts before the end of 2026.

More: Chile news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Chile and Australia sign anything?

No. The two foreign ministers agreed to begin work towards a Strategic Partnership, without a treaty, a memorandum or a joint declaration.

What is the Humboldt cable?

It is an undersea cable from Google and Desarrollo País linking Chile to Sydney and Panama City. Installation is due to start in late 2026.

Does this change anything for investors now?

Not yet. No project, budget or rule change was announced, so the effect today is diplomatic rather than commercial.

Sources: Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement, 22 September 2026; La Tercera; BioBioChile; Chilean government and Valparaíso regional statements on the Humboldt cable; BNamericas; Google Cloud; Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs.