Over 500 Chilean and German government and company representatives participated in the VI Chilean-German Economic Conference 2015. The strategic partner in the event, organized by the Chilean-German Chamber of Commerce (CAMCHAL), was North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the state that is the heart of the German mining industry. The Conference analyzed key aspects of the two countries’ industrial agenda and included a series of sector panels in which the Foreign Investment Committee (CIEChile) had an active participation.

At the Conference’s inauguration, Chile’s Minister of Economy, Economic Development and Tourism, Luis Felipe Céspedes, emphasized the need to increase productivity in Chile. “In Germany, SMEs achieve 75% of the productivity of large companies while, in Chile, they reach only 25%,” he pointed out. In this context, it is crucial to bear in mind the road that other countries have taken in this field, he said, highlighting Germany’s experience in business productivity and competitiveness and noting that these are one of the Chilean government’s principal concerns.

Cornelia Sonnenberg, general manager of CAMCHAL, indicated that “for us, it is a particular honor to be able to receive a delegation from North Rhine-Westphalia, representing more than 30 companies and led by Minister-President Hannelore Kraft and State Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Garrelt Duin.

The executive of the most important European bilateral chamber of commerce in Chile also noted that, thanks to bilateral cooperation between companies, universities and research centers as well as different public-private cooperation initiatives, great challenges can be transformed into opportunities.

Sector panels
Leading government authorities and representatives of state enterprises, business associations and German companies of different sizes participated in the Conference’s sector panels during which the Foreign Investment Committee informed potential German investors about the principal opportunities Chile offers in the infrastructure sector, particularly the Public Works Ministry’s Concessions Agenda, and in mining, especially for suppliers of mining services.

Source: CIEChile/CAMCHAL