• In the context of Chile Day Global 2021, the President reflected on how the domestic economy has progressed in recent years and on the impact of the pandemic.

“Chile has become a laboratory for clean and sustainable energy; the energy of the future. For the future of Chile we need to act to address and halt climate change and global warming,” said President Sebastián Piñera. He was speaking at the inauguration of Chile Day Global 2021, an event focused on attracting foreign investors from the financial sector.

In his speech, the President reflected on Chile´s economic progress since its return to democracy at the beginning of the 1990s, including achievements like the significant increase in per-capita GDP, the decrease in poverty levels and Chile being one of the Latin American countries with the greatest economic freedom.

He also referred to the two major blows Chile has sustained over the last two years: the coronavirus pandemic and the violent acts unleashed as of October, 2019. In both cases, he highlighted the government´s response: a vaccination plan to fight the pandemic and an agreement for social justice, peace and a new constitution to put an end to the violence.

The President explained that in order to address the pandemic, the number of ICU beds nationwide has been tripled from 640 in 2019 to 1,942 in 2020. He added that there are contracts in place to supply Chile with more than 35 million doses of vaccines from different laboratories this year. “This will enable us to immunize the target population of around 15 million people during the first semester,” the President said. He also highlighted the robust plan put in place by the Treasury Department to meet the needs of citizens during the pandemic, which involves 8.4% of Chile’s GDP.

“As you can see, Chile’s a good country in which to be born, grow up and study. Chile’s also a good country in which to work, live and grow old. It’s also therefore a good country in which to invest.  Welcome to Chile,” he concluded.