Representatives of InvestChile and the Ministry of Finance talked about the challenges for foreign companies and the measures taken by the government during the COVID-19 crisis.

This morning, representatives of the binational chambers of commerce and commercial attachés from 17 countries met online for the webinar “Overseas Companies in Chile: Needs and Challenges during the COVID-19 Crisis”, held by InvestChile, the government’s foreign investment promotion agency, as part of its series of InvestChile Talks.

The webinar, moderated by the head of InvestChile’s Promotion Division, Ian Frederick, began with a presentation by the director of InvestChile, Cristián Rodríguez, who spoke about the impact of the health crisis on investment. He was followed by the Finance Ministry’s coordinator of tax policies, Manuel Alcalde, who explained the government’s economic plan and the measures it has taken to address the emergency. Finally, the coordinator of InvestChile’s International Network, Beatriz Herrera, spoke about the agency’s plan of action for the rest of the year.

In his presentation, Rodríguez reported that the agency’s work during this year will have three main focuses: aftercare to support the development of projects and reinvestment by companies that already have operations in Chile; the provision of more and better information to companies through publications and in-person and distance activities; and special support for the reactivation of the investments of the companies in the agency’s portfolio.

He also drew attention to the publication of the first of the InvestChile Insights series of e-books. Entitled “Impact of COVID-19 on the Economy and Investment”, it is available in English and Spanish on the agency’s website.

“In this global crisis, we want to strengthen our direct work with overseas companies, especially those that already have operations in Chile, supporting them in their problems and doubts so that they reactivate their projects once the crisis is over,” said Rodríguez, underscoring the important role that foreign investment will play in reactivating the economy.

“When the time comes, we will be ready to once again promote Chile as an internationally attractive investment destination,” he added.

The Emergency Economic Plan, explained by the representative of the Finance Ministry, includes the expansion of FOGAPE financing for companies with annual sales of up to 1 million unidades de fomento (UF) or approximately US$34 million. “The biggest problem facing companies is a lack of liquidity for which we designed a plan of lending with state guarantees, which will allow them to access the banking system on extremely beneficial terms,” said Alcalde.

Representatives from Germany, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Brazil, Canada, China, Korea, Spain, the United States, France, the Netherlands, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom participated in the webinar.