• According to analysis carried out by InvestChile, the accumulated figure to March 2023 is 16% higher than the first-quarter average for the last five years.

Chile’s Banco Central provided new data on foreign direct investment (FDI) this morning, which shows that the flow reached a total of US$7.286 billion to March this year. This figure translates into an annual increase of 34% compared to the US$5.454 billion accumulated during the first quarter of 2022.

According to analysis carried out by InvestChile, the accumulated figure to March 2023 is 16% higher than the first-quarter average for the last five years, which reached US$6.266 billion. InvestChile noted that this is a preliminary figure that will be reviewed by the Banco Central on May 18.

With regard to monthly figures, US$2.609 billion entered Chile during March, an amount that is above the average of the last 12 months, which reached US$1.891 billion.

The most important component of the FDI flow was equity holdings, with US$6.22 billion, and in second place the reinvestment of profits, with an accumulated US$4.603 billion. Debt securities, meanwhile, presented a negative flow of US$3.537 billion, influenced by the greater number of amortizations over income.

Positive first quarter

Economy Minister Nicolás Grau highlighted the positive foreign direct investment results in the first three months of the year. He indicated that the measures the government has taken to promote the arrival and expansion of foreign capital in the country are on the right track. These include the Invirtamos en Chile (Let’s Invest in Chile) plan and the appointment of investment commissioners in five strategic cities around the world.

“As the government, we are working to bring more foreign investment to the country, because this, in addition to reactivating the economy, translates into more and better jobs and, therefore, an improvement in the quality of life of Chileans. We are pleased that foreign investment in Chile is maintaining positive figures in the midst of a complex global economic context,” the minister said.

InvestChile’s executive director, Karla Flores, highlighted the positive result of FDI in Chile for the first three months of the year, given that the global scenario continues to be challenging. “A few days ago, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) reported that FDI fell 24% last year globally, so this rise in the first quarter in Chile is very good news. In any case, we are monitoring international flows and attentive to changes in the international context,” she stated.

“This encourages us to continue working to maintain the confidence of foreign companies that are already investing in Chile and to motivate new companies to develop their projects in our country, to provide quality employment, innovation and new technologies for the value chain of Chilean industries,” the executive director of InvestChile explained.