The Economy Minister, the acting director of InvestChile and the director of GPS met with representatives of Canadian companies from different sectors including mining, banking, energy, infrastructure and water services as well as investment and pension funds.

The Minister of Economy, Economic Development and Tourism, José Ramón Valente, closed the market this Tuesday at the Toronto Stock Exchange. This formed part of an official visit to Canada to boost investment in Chile in which he was joined by the acting director of InvestChile, Ian Frederick, and the director of the Office for Management of Sustainable Projects (GPS), Juan José Obach.

During the day, the authorities met with representatives of Canadian companies, some of which already have operations in Chile while others have expressed interest in investing.

“We have told them about both the outlook and the objectives of the government of President Sebastián Piñera for the Chilean economy. [There is] much interest among mining investors, much interest in the government’s public works program and also in sectors that could be considered “non-traditional” such as agriculture or manufacturing,” said Minister Valente.

In the first meeting, focusing on energy and infrastructure, the companies that participated included Cargojet, ATC, CCA, Brookfield, OTPP, CPPIB, OMERS and CIBC. This was followed by meetings with representatives of Scotiabank, Bastion Infrastructure, CCA, OTPP, Yamana Gold, Lundin Mining, Teck, EDC, Stantec, Barrick Gold, Stikeman Elliott and Fairfax Financial. Finally, meetings were held with mining companies such as Agnico, Lundin Mining, Teck, Barrick Gold, Kinross, SNC-Lavalin, TMX Group and Hudbay.

Minister Valente told investors that “it seems to me particularly attractive that there is an institution like InvestChile, with the objective of attracting foreign investment, and also the new Office for Management of Sustainable Projects, whose objective is to ensure that the process for a project in our country is as agile as possible, providing it respects our legislation, the environment and communities.”

The acting director of InvestChile emphasized the importance of Canadian investment in Chile. “Canada is Chile’s second largest source of foreign investment, accounting for US$22,700 million or 8.9% of the total stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in our country. Its companies are also present in different economic sectors that range from mining to banking,” he pointed out.

The Commercial Counsellor of the Canadian Embassy in Chile, Mark Richardson, indicated that “this visit shows the seriousness with which Chile takes Canadian investment and we see that market signals, the policies of the government of Sebastián Piñera and the efforts of the Economy Ministry, among other factors, mean great opportunities for investors from our country.”