In its Public Report for 2018, the agency indicated that each dollar invested in its work had generated US$342 in foreign direct investment for Chile.  

InvestChile, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, presented its Public Report for 2018 in the Moneda presidential palace this morning. The Report showed that, in 2018, the agency had a portfolio of 274 projects at different stages of development, worth a total of over US$14,000 million. The director of InvestChile, Cristián Rodríguez, noted that, once implemented, the projects will create some 15,000 new jobs in Chile.

Rodríguez also reported that, in 2018, InvestChile carried out over 100 investment attraction activities in 17 countries, with a focus on projects with a high value for the country. This was crucial for the growth of the portfolio of projects managed by the agency, which reached 82%, “a result that encourages us to continue working intensely to attract more and better investment to the country, investment that creates jobs and helps to improve Chileans’ quality of life”.

“We can say with pride that our work paid off since, for each dollar the state invested in this agency in 2018, InvestChile generated US$342 in foreign direct investment for the country while the average return of agencies internationally is US$189 for each dollar invested,” he added.

In the case of its work this year, Rodriguez explained that the agency will be focusing primarily on increasing its portfolio of projects but will also be implementing a strategy to support attraction of investment in the country’s different regions, for which a pilot plan is already underway in the Araucanía Region. He also highlighted the agency’s transversal work with different ministries which will be reflected in an international agenda to promote 123 public projects and tenders, worth more than US$3,700 million, in the United States, Brazil, Europe and Asia.

Public-Private Council

Following presentation of the Public Report, InvestChile’s Public-Private Council held its first meeting. The Council’s mission is to recommend actions and measures to facilitate implementation of the strategy for promoting and attracting foreign direct investment in the country. The Council is made up of five representatives of public sector bodies (Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Science and Technology, CORFO, SUBDERE and the National Productivity Commission) and 12 representatives of the private sector and academia, including business associations (SOFOFA, CPC), associations of entrepreneurs, chambers of commerce and companies.

Rodríguez explained that the Council is a shared space whose mission is to promote debate about improving the climate for foreign investment in Chile and “its main value is that it will put concrete proposals on the table, from both a public and private perspective, with a view to generating initiatives and providing public policy recommendations.” Its proposals will be presented to the Committee of Ministers for the Promotion and Attraction of Foreign Investment.

Referring to its first meeting, Rodríguez stressed that it was a high-level conversation, “extremely frank and constructive, which gives us a more 360° view of the work ahead of us”. He also underlined the presence and commitment of both the representatives of companies, business associations and bi-national chambers and the authorities who participated. “The promotion of foreign investment is a country-task and this is how it has been understood by each of the councilors,” he concluded.

Download the InvestChile Public Report in spanish here.

See some photographs of the activities.