• The President made this statement at the InvestChile 2022 International Forum, an event that brings together more than one hundred representatives of companies from 28 countries with investment projects worth US$ 4 billion.  

Over one hundred representatives of companies from 28 countries with 56 investment projects worth US$4 billion and 1,900 potential jobs are participating in the InvestChile 2022 International Forum, which is Chile’s most important event for attracting foreign investment. 

The event was inaugurated this morning by the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, together with the Economy, Development and Tourism Minister, Nicolás Grau, and the InvestChile Director, Karla Flores. It was also attended by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Antonia Urrejola, and the Environment Minister, Maisa Rojas.  

The President referred to Chile’s potential to attract new investments, since it offers tremendous opportunities and institutional solidity «that will help us to progress and improve the quality of life of our people, while making a global contribution» .  

«This requires reactivating the economy, where foreign investment plays a tremendously important role. Greater investment is synonymous with new jobs, which will restore peace of mind to thousands of families who have suffered as a result of our economic down-turn, due to the COVID-19 crisis and the global economic slowdown», said President Boric.  

The President also announced at this event that the Foreign Minister, Antonia Urrejola, will travel to Brussels this Friday to sign a political agreement that will modernize the partnership with the European Union. He said, «This is very good news, as we share a robust exchange of trade with the European Union and share its values» .  

The President of the Republic informed investors that new investment attaché offices for North America and Europe reporting to InvestChile will open this month, specifically in Washington DC (USA) and Berlin (Germany), «thus making progress towards the fulfillment of our Pro-Investment Agenda».

Good news for Foreign Investment 

Minister Grau confirmed that the Forum is an extremely important opportunity for Chile to reinforce its commitment to foreign investment. «As you are well aware, despite difficulties worldwide, this has been a good year for Chile in terms of foreign investment, as it is above the five-year average. We continue to face huge challenges. However, Chile has tremendous potential due to its institutional strength, its physical and digital infrastructure and because Chile can clearly combine the fight against the climate change with economic dynamism and greater investment in a totally exceptional manner» , said the Secretary of State.  

Karla Flores is the InvestChile Director and she sees the forum as a sign that foreign companies have a positive, long-term interest in investing in Chile. «We know that the global economy is in difficulties. We are fully committed as an agency to attracting investment projects to Chile, so they can positively benefit our entire business ecosystem, add dynamism to our markets, generate greater competition, improve service quality and citizen access in key industries, all of which will improve the quality of life for Chilean citizens,» said Ms Flores.  

The first such Forum was held in 2014, and it aims to provide participating companies with first-hand knowledge of emerging investment opportunities, new economic strategies and foreign investment policies in Chile. The event will start with the plenary session, followed by sector breakout sessions with key local players and a large-scale matchmaking day, where some 90 business meetings are expected to take place.  

This is the sixth Forum and projects here focus on the Circular Economy, Global Services, Fintech, Tourism and Green Hydrogen. The companies that have submitted the most investment initiatives were from the USA, France, Argentina and Japan.  

Economic analysis and investment opportunities 

Participants at the plenary session of the VI InvestChile International Forum heard an analysis of international economic developments from the Chief Economist and Director of OECD Country Studies, Álvaro Santos Pereira, and the Chief Economist of the U.S. State Department, Emily Blanchard, while the Chilean Finance Minister, Mario Marcel, spoke on local economic challenges and perspectives.  

Two panel discussions were also held during the event. The first panel was dedicated to «foreign investment as the driver of future solutions», with the participation of Giulio Bonazzi, CEO and Chairman of Aquafil (Italy); Marisol Garrido, COO of Séché Group (France); Marco Miranda, Country Manager of Phibion (Australia); and Carmina Hernández, Policy Manager for Chile at AWS (USA). 

The second panel involved the Energy Minister, Diego Pardow; the Mining Minister, Marcela Hernando; and the Undersecretary of Public Works, José Andrés Herrera, addressing specific investment opportunities in Chile. They described the project portfolios within their public portfolios, international tenders and investment incentives. 

Chile received over US$14 billion in foreign investment between January and September this year, which is above the average for this period during the last five years.

Check out the best moments of our International InvestChile Forum 2022: