Chile opens business centre in New YorkPublished: July 6, 2009
This new office stems from the desire to establish and increase the presence of Chile in the North American and international markets, in terms of promotion of exports and attraction of investment.
In terms of commerce, an important step was made with the opening of the first business centre in the United States. Established in New York, it will be operated by staff from the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO) and the Chilean Export Promotion Program (ProChile). It comes as part of a strategic alliance to strengthen the promotion of exports and attract new investment.
"This new office reflects the consolidation of the model of cooperation between CORFO and ProChile, in the task of positioning our country as an important player in terms of trade and investment. This involves active work in strategic sectors where Chile has high potential for development, such as global services, agroindustry, renewable energy and biotechnology," indicated Mario Castillo, CORFO's Head of Investment and Promotion.
In the first quarter of 2009, Chile's non-traditional exports to the United States increased by 4.2% compared with the same period the previous year, representing 18.8% of the total of exports to North America. The most important sector is the food industry.
"The United States is our main trading partner and without a doubt represents an enormous market to strengthen various export sectors, such as global services. In this sense, New York offers great opportunities and we want Chilean business people to dare to offer and sell their services in this market," explained Alicia Frohman, Director of ProChile.
In addition to this new milestone in the national promotion strategy, CORFO's InvestChile program organised a mission of public officials, which included the president of the Pro Innovation Forum, Raúl Rivera, and the president of the Chilean Association for Information Technology Companies (ACTI), Juan Carlos Muñoz. They had meetings with important service providers and technological solutions companies in New York, San Francisco, Arizona and Washington DC.
According to Juan Carlos Muñoz, Manager of ACTI's Global Services Platform, "the Chilean market is worth US$ 3 billion and we're certain that our country is in a unique position to deliver remote services from Chile to the North American market, such as for example, in the administration of communications networks."
Within ProChile's external network, comprised of 52 offices in five continents, there are four offices in the United States: New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Miami. In addition, there will be offices in Atlanta and Chicago, which will allow the program to expand its role as the main connection between Chilean exporters and their foreign counterparts. CORFO is also has two representative offices located in New York and Los Angeles.
The New York Business Centre is the second of its kind, stemming from the strategic alliance between ProChile and CORFO. The Centre in Madrid has been in operation since last year.
Sources:
ProChileinvertia.comwww.chilenoticias.cl