Chile

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of Chile to better company knowledge and business practices:

Profile Data and Current Business Environment

There are several very useful indicators with which to profile an international market.  In 2009 and 2010 research indicated Chile’s corruption index (25), ease of doing business rank (49), and global ranking in trading across international borders (56, all out of 180 countries).  It is encouraging to see Chile in the top 15% worldwide in terms of corruption, international endeavours can be made much more difficult when dealing with corrupt governments or business entities.  Ease of doing business is also a promising indicator that business here could move along much more smoothly than in other international markets.  

The graph below, from Euromonitor International illustrates Chilean consumer expenditure by sector in 2009.  The average disposable income in 2009 was estimated to be about $5,600 American dollars and communication was able to capture 5% of that wallet.  Euromonitor also states; “The most dynamic sectors between 2004 and 2009 were communications, education and transport, in that order.” This is a very promising indicator for foreign investment in Chile’s communications sector in the years to come.

Chile is currently one of South America’s most economically developed countries, creating an overall inviting business environment for companies looking to enter into the region.  In recent years the Chilean economy has been affected by the world wide financial crisis.  In 2008, Chile experienced four consecutive quarters of contraction in foreign direct investment.  This resulted in a decrease in exports by 21.9% in 2009 from the 2008 numbers.  However, real gross domestic product was projected to increase in the years to come.  The major earthquake that struck Chile in 2010 prompted approximately 1.2 billion American dollars in reconstruction efforts between 2010 and 2014, which is expected...