First Chilean embassy in Gulf opens in Abu Dhabi
Latin american country's envoy was born in the UAE
Abu Dhabi: For Chileans living in the UAE, the recent opening of their embassy in Abu Dhabi marks the end of their loneliness.
Some of them even dream of more cultural exchanges and even the fusion of Latin American and Arab cultures, especially in music.
Mariano Fernandez Amunategui, Chile's Minister of Foreign Affairs, opened the embassy in Al Mushrif area in the presence of Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
The Abu Dhabi mission is the first Chilean embassy in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region.
Addressing guests including government officials, prominent UAE and Chilean nationals and diplomats of other countries, Amunategui said his visit to the UAE and his counterpart Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's ongoing visit to Chile shows the positive development in Chile-UAE relations.
Place of their own
Barbara Jones, a Chilean resident in Dubai, told Gulf News that Chileans in the UAE would not feel lonely now. "Now we have a place to approach if any problem arises in daily life," said Jones who is a trade assistant with the Chile Trade Commission office in Dubai.
Earlier, Chileans in the UAE had to approach the Chile Embassy in Lebanon which is the nearest one to the UAE, for consular services.
Ovidio De Ferrari, one of the senior Chilean residents in the UAE, said that he has a great feeling on the embassy's opening because the enhanced relations make more cultural exchanges, including the possibility of a fusion of Latin American and Arabic music, possible.
A music conductor and composer, De Ferrari, who has been living in Dubai for 16 years, said the most beautiful music comes from fusion of cultures like jazz, which is a fusion of African and American music.
"Like that, a fusion of Latin American and Arab music may create some of the most beautiful music in the world," De Ferrari said .
"Music represents the soul of the people in a country. As a composer, I am already influenced by Arab music," he said.
De Ferrari said that when he reached the UAE in 2003, he found just 10 Chileans here. "Many more people came later," he said.
About 260 Chileans are living in the UAE according to Jean-Paul Tarud-Kuborn, Ambassador of Chile to the UAE.
He said he has deep rooted links with the UAE, so he is proud and happy to serve both countries.
"I was born in the UAE in 1976," Kuborn said.
