Latin America’s success model

29 April 2011. Chile did not only manage the peaceful transition from a 17-year dictatorship to democracy but has also achieved impressive economic growth. After drastic privatisation and deregulation measures, the South American nation has established itself as a player on the world market, for instance as a producer of agricultural products, with particular strength in the Asia Pacific region.

The second big driver of the Chilean economy, the copper mines, are still state-owned and provide the government with a third of its revenue. This, however, also signifies a strong dependency on international demand and price developments.

Continuing reforms

The present government has announced further economic reforms in order to strengthen the private sector, attract foreign investments and promote economic integration with the Asian region. In so doing, it continues the policy pursued by the previous government, which tried to diversify economic structures, for example by supporting research and innovation.

Chile’s economy is flourishing, but the big differences in income among the population are one of the unsolved problems. Opportunities for education and upward economic mobility are very unequally distributed although numerous efforts have been made in the last two decades to reduce poverty.

Proven experts

These and other challenges will be dealt with on the occasion of the Jornada Chilena on 6 May in the Audimax (Room 09-010) of the HSG. For this purpose, the CLS-HSG has invited academics and experienced professionals from various quarters of the economy to share their knowledge of “Doing business in Chile”.

These experts include Prof. Dr. Patricio Silva, Professor of Modern Latin American History and Director of the Department of Latin American Studies at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, and Hans Jöhr, Corporate Head of Agriculture with Nestlé in Vevey.

The event will start at 1.15 p.m. and end at 7 p.m. with an aperitif. The "Jornada Chilena" is open to the general public. Anyone who is interested in participating should register with cls-hsg@unisg.ch.

Photo: Photocase/derBoB