| Did you know? |
- The president of Chile is Ms Michelle Bachelet. She is the first female president in Chile.
- Michelle Bachelet’s great-greatgrandfather, José Bachelet Lapiere, arrived in Chile in XIX century. He came from Chassagne, a small town in the Burgundy region of France, and was hired as an enologist by the winery Viña Subercaseaux. This wine industry pioneer had a son, Germain, who was inspired to follow in his father’s footsteps and achieved success.
- A study carried out in 40 countries by Johns Hopkins University in the United States revealed that within Latin America, Chile has the largest number of individuals working as unpaid volunteers. According to the Figures, 7% of Chilean adults have participated in voluntary work.
- Copper and other raw materials are not Chile’s only exports. During the past several years, the array of products sold internationally has expanded to less traditional areas, ranging from gelatines, jams, toothpaste and beauty creams to a preparation made from snail secretions. Seeds from pepper and cauliflower plants take their place next to preserved snails, octopus, chicken wings, soapbark extract and prepared artichokes.
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| Facts |
- The 17 trade agreements signed by Chile with 51 countries permit the country’s products to reach a population of 3.8 billion.
- In 2005, the Chilean economy grew by 6.3%, according to data from the Central Bank.
- Yahoo, the world’s largest Internet media company, will install a research centre in Chile, the first of its type outside the United States. The Chilean center, which will study Internet searches and the extraction of information, will be managed jointly by the Web Research Centre and financed by the Chilean Ministry of Planning’s Millennium Scientific Initiative.
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Chile Exports Soar 24% in 2005, set Record Surplus
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Chile posted a record annual trade surplus of US$ 9.236 billion in 2005 as its exports climbed by nearly a quarter to almost US$ 40 billion, boosted by the soaring price of copper, according to Central Bank figures. In December, Chile had a trade surplus of US$ 1.173 billion, compared with US$ 1.102 billion in December 2004. In 2004, Chile's trade surplus was US$ 9.019 billion. For the year, Chile's exports totaled US$ 39.536 billion, up 23.5% from 2004, while imports rose 31.7% to US$ 30.300 billion. The new record surplus came after prices for copper, Chile's chief export, reached heights that exceeded even some of the most optimistic forecasts. Chile is the world's top copper producer and its exports of the metal were valued at US$ 1.199 billion in the first three weeks of December.
Total exports for the month came in at US$ 3.707 billion, up 11.9% from the same month of 2004. High copper prices have helped power Chile's economy, which has grown near 6% for the past two years and is expected to come close to repeating that performance again in 2006.
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Chile Wine Exports Up as UK and Brazil Markets Widen
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Wine exports increased 5.7 percent in quantity and 5.4 percent in value between January and March, according to figures released this week by Chile’s wine industry.
Although the United States is still the wine sector’s principal market, accounting for profits of US$34.1 million in the first quarter, the UK market grew eight percent according to figures released by Wines of Chile, a promotional body representing 90 Chilean wineries.
Brazil also made its debut in the top ten most important export markets for Chilean wines. In the first quarter of 2006 Brazil provided earnings of US$6.5 million, an increase of 132 percent, to join Holland, Canada, Germany and Denmark as the top seven most important countries for Chile’s wine industry. Ireland, Japan and Belgium complete the top ten.
The average case of wine sells for US$25.11 generating a total income of US$168.4 million in the first quarter.
The growing importance of Chile’s wine industry coincides with the decision by the World Association Wine & Spirits Writers Journalist (WAWWJ) to place a Chilean vineyard amongst the world’s top 10. The Valdivieso Winery, which won 45 different industry prizes in 2005, was recognized as the sixth best vineyard in the world in the "100 Top Wineries" ranking.
Almost 7,000 wines were judged from over 500 different wine "societies", making up a total of 90 percent of the world’s vineyards. Latin America won 1,939 prizes, and Chile was awarded 1,127 of them.
The Santiago Times
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| Chile Produces Wagyu Beef |
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Often referred to as the 'foie gras of beef', Wagyu beef originates from Japan and is the most flavoursome and tender beef in the world.
Chile is now producing and exporting Wagyu meat. This particular meat is striking because of its wonderful marbling which results in a never-before-experienced succulence that ‘sends the taste buds reeling’. The fat in the meat has more monounsaturated fats and melts at room temperature which makes Wagyu beef suitable as part of a lower-cholesterol diet. The high degree of marbling adds an extraordinary depth of flavour which makes Wagyu beef a culinary delicacy.
The British company ‘TFC Express’ is importing this meat into the UK from Chile. And it was using Chilean Wagyu that Selfridges created the so called most expensive and delicious sandwich in the world. Last April several newspapers and websites highlighted this delicacy.
If you want to know more about Chilean Waygu and the company that is now importing it into the United Kingdom, please send us an email to london@prochile.co.uk
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Chile and UK Climate Change Business Leaders Meet in London
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Climate change project developers and financiers from Chile and the UK met in London on 8th May to discuss further co-operation between the two countries in tackling the problems of global warming.
The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows businesses and governments in Europe to help meet greenhouse gas emission reduction target by investing in climate change projects in countries like Chile, Brazil and India. Chile is proving very attractive to UK carbon investors; with a very supportive government and a good range of quality emission reduction projects in sectors such as waste-to-energy.
The Chilean delegation, led by ProChile and the Chilean Ambassador to London, H.E. Mariano Fernandez, attended a 1-Day CDM investment workshop hosted by the UK government’s Climate Change Projects Office. The Corporation of the City of London also hosted an evening reception for the Chilean delegation, which was attended by more than 50 key investors in the London Carbon Market.
UK-Chile cooperation in CDM project development is growing strongly. UK company CO2e.com brokered the sale of carbon credits from one of the first CDM projects in Chile, the Agrosuper pig-waste to energy project, to Japanese buyers. More recently another UK company, Ecosecurities, has managed the carbon finance for Chile’s first hydroelectricity project under the CDM. The UK Climate Change Projects Office also took a UK carbon investment delegation to Chile in March of this year.
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Chile Climbs Six Places in Technology Index
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In the Networked Readiness Index 2005, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Chile ranks in 29th position out of 115 countries, up from 35th position out of 104 countries in the previous year’s ranking. The Index, which was first released in 2000, measures a country’s preparation to adopt new information and communications technologies (ICTs) and to effectively harness them to its development. Chile’s position in the 2005 Index, which is headed by the United States and Singapore, puts it ahead of countries that include Spain (31st), South Africa (37th) and India (40th). Within Latin America, it is followed by Brazil (52nd) and Mexico (55th). The new Index is contained in the WEF’s Global Information Technology Report 2005-2006, which pays specific tribute to Chile’s "outstanding achievements" in the field of ICT development, attributing them partly to progressive government policy intervention and to collaboration between the public and private sectors. Chile is "a reliable front runner for both local and foreign investors, with clear rules and qualified human capital," the report concludes. World Economic Forum (Networked Readiness Index 2005).
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Wines of Chile best marketing campaign
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Wines of Chile UK was announced winner of the 2006 trophy for "Best Trade Campaign at the 3rd Drinks Business Awards presentations made at the London International Wine & Spirit Fair.
In the Awards supplement, Drinks Business acknowledged Wines of Chile UK’s commitment to "educate, inform, increase market share and establish a dynamic image for Chile and its wines." The Judges went on to describe the campaign as "incredibly integrated", "consistent" and ‘very single minded".
This is the second time in three years that Wines of Chile has been the recipient of this trophy, beating off tough competition that included other generic campaigns. Michael Cox, UK Director of Wines of Chile said,
"The award is testimony not only to the efforts and dedication of the Wines of Chile staff, both here in UK and in Chile, but also to distance Chile has travelled up the ladder of relevance in the UK wine scene."
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