Turkey's Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD) opened a representative office in Chile as part of its 2019 drive to strengthen its presence in Latin America.

MÜSİAD now has 224 representative offices in 94 countries, according to a statement released yesterday.

Chile became the fourth country in the region – after Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia – where the association has opened offices.

Abdurrahman Kaan, the head of MÜSİAD, said organizational works in South America have accelerated since the business body declared 2019 "the year of Latin America and the Asia-Pacific."

Stating that Latin America has great potential with a trade volume of $700 billion and over $2 trillion in GDP, Kaan said MÜSİAD aims to play an active role in the region.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Chile amounted to nearly $79 million in the first two months of 2019.