Miami, New York and Philadelphia are the cities where Chile will be presenting the opportunities it offers for trade and investment.

A delegation of over 150 people representing 67 companies, eight business associations, six government services and two NGOs will participate in the first version of Chile Week United States, which will take place in Miami, New York and Philadelphia between October 24 and 28.

The announcement was made on Tuesday by Chile’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Heraldo Muñoz, who chaired the official launch of the event at which he was accompanied by the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Claudio Ternicier; the director of InvestChile, Carlos Álvarez; and the director general of the Directorate of International Economic Relations (DIRECON), Andrés Rebolledo.

Trade and investment seminars, business meetings, workshops, master classes, talks at universities, working lunches and official dinners are among the activities through which Chile will be showcasing the best of its export products and services, the investment opportunities it offers and its advantages in this field as well as its tourist attractions.

The event, coordinated by DIRECON and the commercial offices of ProChile, targets public and private players in the United States who will be able to learn at first hand why Chile is the Latin American country with the best business climate and the best performance in rankings of competitiveness and connectivity.

The activities in the US will be led by Minister Muñoz and the director general of DIRECON, together with the Minister of Economy, Luis Felipe Céspedes, and the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Furche, as well as Chile’s ambassador to the US, Juan Gabriel Valdés, InvestChile’s Carlos Álvarez and business leaders from sectors that include the food industry, tourism, services and innovation for which the United States is a key market.

“This Chile Week in the United States is a great window through which to show all we are doing,” said Minister Muñoz. “We cannot continue to be a country that exports only primary goods and must add value and, for that, the United States is a crucial market,” he added.

According to the DIRECON-ProChile Department of Commercial Information, the US is Chile’s principal market for non-copper exports, with sales that reached US$6,285 million in 2015. It is, in addition, Chile’s leading source of foreign direct investment, with US companies having committed over US$29,000 million to the country or, in other words, 25.8% of the total inflow.

Source: DIRECON-ProChile