The event took the form of a new InvestChile webinar organized together with the Dutch Embassy.   

The investment climate and opportunities in the Chilean food industry, services and special programs within the circular economy and the impact of the roadmap of the Plastics Pact and the Extended Product Responsibility (REP) Law were some of the topics covered in the latest InvestChile webinar: “The Circular Economy and Food Packaging, a Business Opportunity”.

Over one hundred people connected to the online seminar which formed part of the #InvestChileTalks series of events, designed for foreign investors in Chile and companies in general. The activity was organized in conjunction with the Dutch Embassy and with the support of EuroChile. The Netherlands is Chile’s fourth largest source of foreign direct investment, accounting for a stock of more than US$9,800 million by 2018.

The webinar was opened by the acting director of InvestChile, Juan Araya, who noted that, despite the challenging times facing the global economy as a result of coronavirus, the flow of foreign direct investment to Chile has remained healthy and was up by 53% in the first half of 2020. “As you will be able to see in this seminar, we are looking not only for more investment in Chile, but also for better investment; that is why we want to talk about sustainability and the circular economy in the context of the food packaging industry,” said Araya.

The Dutch Ambassador to Chile, Harman Idema, highlighted the progress his country has made in terms of the circular economy and “Chile’s enthusiasm for following that road”. He added that “there is interest in the circular economy, in circular agriculture, and we see interest in both the government and companies.”

InvestChile investment promotion executive, Cristián Sagal, spoke about the opportunities that the Chilean food industry offers for foreign investors and how the agency can help to establish operations in the country while Linnet Solway, director of the technology transfer and circular economy area of EuroChile, talked about the relationship with the circular economy and collaboration with Europe.

Andrea Cino, leader of sustainability at Fundación Chile, also participated in the seminar, providing information about the Plastics Pact’s roadmap in Chile, and Guillermo González, head of the circular economy area at the Ministry of the Environment, spoke about the REP Law and its challenges looking ahead to 2040.