Minister of Economy’s assessment of European tour: «There is a lot of interest in investing in Chile»

• Together with the director of InvestChile, the minister participated in activities with representatives of more than 150 companies in Spain, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to promote Chile as an investment destination. 

Through more than 50 activities carried out during his investment promotion tour in Europe—which was organized by InvestChile and included visits to Madrid, Paris, Berlin, and London—Chile’s Minister of Economy, Development, and Tourism, Nicolás Grau, was able to confirm the strong interest in developing investment projects in Chile, especially in areas such as energy, technology, and infrastructure.

During the tour—in which InvestChile Director, Karla Flores, also participated, in addition to Chile’s Minister of Public Works, Juan Carlos García, on the Spanish leg—the authorities provided information to investors on the Government’s new economic plans, and Chile’s current political and business climate. They also promoted new investment opportunities in high-value sectors to representatives of more than 150 European companies.

The activities conducted by the delegation included meetings with local authorities to discuss issues related to innovation, economics, and entrepreneurship; and activities with business groups (the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations, the Chile-Spain Foundation, the Movement of the Enterprises of France, the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Latein Amerika Initiativ, the Carbon Trust, London Stock Exchange Group), ambassadors, and representatives of international organizations (OECD).

Minister Grau delivered a highly positive assessment of the tour. “There is a lot of interest in investing in Chile. It should be noted that we’re aiming to attract investments that will be profitable over next 20-30 years”, he noted.

“The strongest interest, accounting for I would say 30% or 40% of our meetings, was focused on the energy sector, particularly the development of non-conventional renewable energy, in which Chile has been a notable leader in recent years, in addition to the possibility of investing in green hydrogen, where there are already several projects being developed that have generated considerable interest”, he added.

Boosting European investment

InvestChile Director, Karla Flores, expects the tour to provide a boost to European investment in Chile following the pandemic, which will be further reinforced by the new investment attaché office that Chile will establish in Europe by the end of this year. “The office will be based in Berlin, but the goal is for its staff to visit every country in the region, aiming to attract investment that is of interest for Chile. That is, investment that generates high-quality employment, contributes new technologies, and is sustainable”, she said. “Efforts such as these not only serve to attract new investors, but are also useful for contacting the head offices of companies that are already present in Chile, many of which are implementing projects that have already obtained environmental permits but whose development is stalled. Reactivating these initiatives, or accelerating companies’ final decision on whether to invest in the country, is part of what we do at InvestChile, together with the Ministry of Economy and other sector-specific ministries”.

It should be noted that 33.3% of the total project portfolio currently managed by InvestChile, equivalent to US$6.87 billion, is accounted for by investments made by European companies.

During the European tour, companies were also invited to participated in the VI International InvestChile Forum, Chile’s largest foreign direct investment promotion event, which will be held in Santiago on December 5-7 and aims to bring together representatives of more than 100 foreign companies.

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