At a meeting organized by the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and attended by South Korea’s ambassador to Chile, Yu Ji-Eun, and the IDB’s representative in Chile, Koldo Echebarría, South Korea’s Ombudsman for Foreign Investment, Doctor Jeffrey Kim, talked about his country’s experience in promoting foreign direct investment (FDI).

Kim spoke about the South Korean economy’s evolution in recent decades and the role foreign investment has played in its development. He also drew attention to the role of the office he heads, explaining that it is responsible not only for channeling foreign investors’ enquiries and problems, which it passes on directly to the country’s highest authorities so as to improve policies, but also for promoting reinvestment which reaches around 70%. In addition, he explained the work of the so-called “home doctors”, experts who provide investors with assistance in different areas in order to resolve their problems as quickly as possible.

Vicente Mira, director of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, highlighted the experience of the Asian country and pointed out that “examples like that of South Korea are extremely important because they point to what we want to achieve: sophistication of our export basket and for foreign investment in Chile to create better jobs, transfer more technology and best practices, foster research and innovation and be sustainable.” Mira also noted the similarities between the assistance that South Korea provides to investors and the new services which the agency he heads is offering in Chile.