• The President kicked off the event organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Regional Government of Magallanes, the Chilean Finance Ministry and InvestChile.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) chose Punta Arenas as the location for “Green Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, Solutions with Global Impact.” The event, held as part of the IDB Board of Governors Meeting, drew 200 attendees, including public authorities, officials from international organizations, corporate executives and trade union representatives.

The event aims to promote the attractiveness of Latin America and the Caribbean as investment destinations in the context of the global energy transformation. It also seeks to create instances to encourage public-private collaboration on investment projects that contribute to meeting global decarbonization goals and increase the visibility and prominence of areas outside Santiago concerning green investment.

In his speech, President Boric emphasized the importance of the energy transition and strengthening public-private collaboration to move forward and address the climate crisis. “We are launching CORFO’s Green Hydrogen Facility for those who want to invest in green hydrogen projects in Chile. The initiative signals a strong commitment from the State in conjunction with multilateral associations like the IDB, which goes beyond a government, to foster the development of this industry in the medium and long term,” he said.

Also in attendance were Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn, Governor of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region Jorge Flies, Chilean Finance Minister Mario Marcel, InvestChile Director Karla Flores, IDB Invest CEO James Scriven, Public Works Minister Jessica López and Energy Minister Diego Pardow.

Public-private dialogue

The forum featured panel discussions and two workshops on boosting green investment in the region. Investors and representatives of more than 80 companies from 15 countries attended. After listening to the first panel, “Investments with purpose: Solving global challenges,” moderated by InvestChile Director Karla Flores and comprised of representatives from international organizations and companies, President Boric’s impromptu intervention in the debate addressed the government’s efforts to accelerate investment, both in terms of permits and incentives.

He also emphasized the need for institutional culture to move toward a more collaborative public-private vision. He called on companies to think about how investments reach ordinary people. President Boric commented that each project generates movement “beyond the investment, and the emerging ecosystem is tremendously positive. This is important for companies to put on the table because it allows long-term social sustainability of the projects.”

Director Flores emphasized that “states, multilateral organizations and the private sector must work together, each in their own role, to promote different initiatives and measures so that the investments needed to meet our climate change commitments can drive these changes and ensure the benefits of these investments reach the people and the territories where they occur.”