Prince Charles invited to visit Chile

Oct 12, 2005, 13:59 GMT

Britain's Prince Charles has been invited to visit Chile in the near future by President Ricardo Lagos.

Mr. Lagos extended the invitation to Charles' mother, Queen Elizabeth, during an official visit to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday morning (11.10.05). He said: "We pointed out to the queen that practically all the Royal Family has been in Chile with the exception of Prince Charles and that possibly it was time to update the situation."

Later in the day, Mr. Lagos met with Primer Minister Tony Blair to consider several bilateral and multilateral issues.

President Lagos said he asked the Prime Minister to strengthen British presence in the unstable, poverty stricken Haiti.

He said: "A more active presence from Britain in Haiti is most important."

"For us it's essential that decisions are made inside United Nations because, as small countries in a globalized world, we want clear rules."

The Chilean president also revealed he asked for a greater EU contribution to science, research and technology.

He said: "Since Chile has a scientific-technological agreement with the EU, it's entitled to those funds. And in 10 Downing Street we suggested an increase for those funds in the EU 2007/2013 budget.

"Research, science, technology are essential for Chile if we want to have a strong sustained growth."

Mr. Lagos left London to travel to Madrid on Tuesday afternoon, where he will visit the Spanish Royal Family.

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