It has already been a year since the pandemic has restricted travel and prohibited visits to target countries. It does not mean that things would have stopped advancing in foreign markets.

Latin America talks is a series of discussion events aimed at shedding light on current happenings, hot topics and rising opportunities “behind the scenes” in different countries of Latin America.

The Finnish Latin American Business Council and Business Finland are delighted to invite you to the first edition of this series, presenting Chile.

Time: March 23, 2021, at 3pm Finnish time
Through: Teams
The event is free of charge.
Registration no later than March 21, 2021. 
Teams link will be sent on March 22, 2021 to the participants.


Chile

Chile is located along the western coast of the southern cone of South America, between the highest section of the Andes mountain chain and the Pacific Ocean. Its shape is unique: it is one of the longest and narrowest countries in the world. It has every type of climate found on the planet with the sole exception of tropical weather. The official language of Chile is Spanish, and its currency the Chilean peso.

Chile has for decades enjoyed of a stable economic and political environment and excellent growth prospects. The country has been one of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies in recent decades thanks to a solid macroeconomic framework, which enabled the country to cushion the effects of a volatile international context and reduce the population living in poverty from 30 percent in 2000 to 3.7 percent in 2017.

Chile has experienced one shock after another since the social unrest that began in October 2019, and the pandemic that has challenged the country. Despite an in-depth social debate and a process of drafting a new constitution, Chile is likely to remain a business and free-trade friendly, trading partner. The year 2021 is marked by several elections including the presidential elections in November.

There is high potential for Finnish companies especially in the following sectors: cleantech, forest management and forest industry, renewable energy, bio and circular economy, water treatment technology and education related to social responsibility and sustainable development issues. There are also opportunities in the mining industry, which is under pressure to increase productivity and solve critical problems related to energy production and water supply. In addition, there is demand for cyber security and digitalization. Also big tenders coming out in defense sector.

Agenda

• 1 year of COVID19 – How does it look like in Chile? – Ambassador Eija Rotinen
• 'Opportunities in Chile for Finnish companies – Anna Niittylä, Senior Advisor & Maria Ala-Kaila, Senior Advisor, Business Finland
• Experiences in doing business in Chile – Finnish company present in Chile