Chile looks to strengthen food exports to ChinaPublished: August 5, 2009
"The Food Links", a commercial office located in Shanghai, will open this September and work to strengthen food exports to China, one of the main international destinations for Chilean businesses.
The InnovaChile program, of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO), together with the consultancy company IGT, related to the Invertec Group, launched a business platform to promote Chilean food exports to China. Jean-Jacques Duhart, the Undersecretary of Economy, explained that the initiative has co-financing of nearly US$1.4 million, 60% of which comes from the public sector.
The growing demand for food products in China is one of the reasons why Chile has gone ahead with this project. The office will have its operations centre in Shanghai and will seek to adapt Chile's exports for the important eastern market.
Chilean exporters in the sector will have fast and direct distribution and marketing channels, which will allow them to be less dependent upon international prices, create higher value products, and attain better profits. At first, the platform will focus on small and large companies involved in processed products, meats, seafood and wines.
The Executive Director (sub) of CORFO's InnovaChile program, Myriam Gómez, explained that in this context it is essential for export companies to be flexible in order to adapt themselves quickly and effectively to the new needs of their consumers. "Innovation plays a vital role in this process. It is an area in which InnovaChile is making important efforts to assist companies with their market development and growth strategies, which are ever more demanding and complex," she stated.
Investment PlatformsChile plans to set up ten business platforms for innovation this year. In addition to China, the markets chosen for this initiative include the United States, Canada, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium and Russia. The areas that will benefit include the fruit sector, agro-industry, mining, information technology and global services. The process has a total budget of US$11.5 million, of which nearly US$6 million will come from public investment.
"Business platforms are part of a national strategy that seeks to advance from an export model based on commodities to one that innovates, both in terms of products and in terms of business administration. These are tools of strategic intelligence, which allow us to get nearer to the final clients, and advance toward a more diversified range of products with greater value added," highlighted Duhart.
Source:
www.thefoodlinks.comchina-embassy.org