Led by Minister José Ramón Valente, the visit included France, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden.

The Minister of Economy, Economic Development and Tourism, José Ramón Valente, has completed a five-day visit to Paris, Madrid and Geneva during which he met with around a hundred business people and associations in a bid to attract investment in Chile. The roadshow was organized by InvestChile.

“This visit has allowed us to position Chile on the map of the main investors in Europe. The recovery of growth, the stability of our institutions and the competitiveness of our markets are elements that enable us to attract more investment,” said Minister Valente.

The activities included a series of meetings with companies interested in investing in Chile as well as the minister’s participation in a number of international conferences and meetings.

In Paris, he spoke at a plenary session of the OECD’s Investment Committee and headed an investment seminar, organized by InvestChile in conjunction with MEDEF, France’s most important business association, which was attended by more than 60 senior representatives of local companies. Similarly, in Spain, he led a meeting organized by the Chile-Spain Foundation and InvestChile in which he presented the pro-investment agenda of the government of President Sebastián Piñera to some 60 companies, including Abertis, Acciona Energy, Banco Santander, Celeo Elecnor, Enagas, Enertis Solar, Everis, Gaes, Catari Group, Itaú, Sacyr, Suez and Telefónica.

In Switzerland, the minister was one of the main speakers at the World Investment Forum’s meeting on entrepreneurship and sustainable development, along with ministers and economic authorities from Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In Sweden, InvestChile held a well-attended investment seminar, organized jointly with Business Sweden and the Chilean Embassy in Sweden, at which speakers included Chilean Ambassador, Hernán Bascuñán, and the Head of Investment Promotion at InvestChile, Ian Frederick.

Minister Valente indicated that the idea of visiting these European countries was to “encourage and invite European investors to invest in Chile. One of the government’s key objectives is to improve Chileans’ quality of life and that is achieved through higher growth, for which we need higher investment,” he said. “In order for our country’s growth to be sustainable, to create better jobs and improve the quality of life of Chileans, we need an important boost in investment and it is essential that part of that boost comes from foreign investment,” he added.

Gallery