By Shagun Malhotra

I knew I was in for a ride as soon as I arrived in Santiago and ventured out to the local neighborhoods to hunt for an apartment. It was not so much the huge language barrier, but rather, the non-stop honking and the playful wolf whistling that followed everywhere I went – a surprisingly warm Latin American welcome for an Indian-American girl. That was when I decided to put away my tight white shirt for the rest of my time in Santiago. But that’s a story for another time. Let’s rewind.

I am from New York City, a city bustling with all kinds of incubators but unfortunately, cost expensive equity. I wasn’t really looking for incubating opportunities as the city’s entrepreneurial spirit, diverse community and phenomenal resources were enough to nurture me. Reading the article on Start-Up Chile (SUP) in Inc. Magazine, however, had me intrigued by the equity-free offer of $40,000, access to international networks, and support from the Chilean government with just an agreement to relocate to Chile for six months.

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By Patrick Haller

Trying to become a “one-stop-shop” in Latin America for both angel investors and entrepreneurs, ChileGlobal Angels is trailblazing with its steadfast and focused approach to matching funders and entrepreneurs. The group extends beyond Chile with investors and opportunities in other Latin American countries, Europe, and the US. When we spoke to Nils Galdo Nogales, co-founder and CEO of ChileGlobal Angels, he stressed that the organization needs to look outside the typical model of an angel investment, which it has been doing in more ways than one since its founding.

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Source: Reuters

Chile’s annual inflation this year will likely be substantially lower than in 2011, when it shot up above the central bank’s tolerance range to reach 4.4 percent, Finance Minister Felipe Larrain said on Thursday.

“We’re confident that this year inflation will be substantially lower than last year’s, and we’ve already had a good start with January inflation,” Larrain told reporters.

Chilean inflation slowed in January, coming in slightly below market expectations, with the consumer price index rising 0.1 percent, following December’s shock 0.6 percent increase.

Reduced inflation could give the central bank room to reduce its key interest rate further after it held rates steady at 5.0 percent in February following a surprise 25 basis point cut in January. However, strong local economic activity and robust domestic demand will likely prompt the bank to again hold rates pat in March, a recent poll showed.

The monetary authority is seen keeping its …

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Source: Bloomberg Business Week

Chilean consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in January from December, leaving the annual inflation rate above the target range for a second straight month, the National Statistics Institute said.

Prices climbed 4.2 percent from a year earlier and monthly core inflation, which excludes fuel and produce, was 0.1 percent, the institute said in a report today. The median estimate of 16 analysts was for prices to rise 0.2 percent in the month.

With annual inflation above the central bank’s 2 percent to 4 percent target, policy makers probably will pause before repeating last month’s surprise quarter-point cut in its benchmark interest rate, economist Cristobal Doberti said by phone. Since the Jan. 12 rate reduction, data show unemployment tumbled and economic growth accelerated in December.

“Given the recent economic activity data we’ve seen locally and abroad together with the increase in salaries, we expect the bank to hold the …

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Source: The Santiago Times

Chile has emerged as the most globalized economy in Latin America and moved up to 25th place in the world, according to global consulting firm Ernst & Young.

Chile is among the countries to improve their position despite global economic uncertainty, the firm’s annual Globalization Index found.

“Unlike other countries, the policies of Chilean governments have promoted openness in times of turbulence, taking the sufficient precautions so the economic turmoil does not hit the country hard,” Cristián Lefevre, senior partner of Ernst & Young Chile, told El Mercurio.

The globalization measurement is based on five factors: foreign trade, capital movement, exchange of technology and ideas, labor movement, and cultural integration.

Chile’s greatest strength in 2011 was the arrival of foreign capital, which ranked fourth globally, behind Ireland, Hong Kong and Belgium. Chile also scored high in foreign trade.

Technology and cultural integration were cited as the country’s weakest …

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An elite group of Chilean entrepreneurs are beginning a one-month immersive work experience at SRI International to advance venture opportunities. The five teams participating in SRI’s Venture Readiness Program were selected from more than 75 teams representing the top Chilean universities, in a program sponsored by CORFO, the Chilean Economic Development Agency.

The work experience is part of CORFO’s “de la Idea al Mercado: Go to Market” program, which identifies early-stage venture opportunities for entrepreneurs who could benefit from relationships with Silicon Valley experts. The program is part of Chile’s overall strategy to develop sectors of their economy into globally competitive industries.

“We warmly welcome this group of Chilean entrepreneurs to SRI as they embark on an important step in their efforts to commercialize their visions on the global stage,” said Stephen Ciesinski, SRI vice president of Strategic Business Initiatives. “We will work with each team to develop components needed for market …

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Source: Merco Press

President Sebastián Piñera announced a 20-year plan for Chile’s energy needs at the annual energy dinner in front of the country’s top executives in the electricity sector. The president said the plan aims to create “a cleaner energy, that is safer, more economical and that agrees with the energy requirements of our country.”

The eight-point plan focused on making Chile’s energy production more efficient and improving sources of renewable energy. The measure includes implementation of energy savings of up to 12%, equivalent to about 1,100 megawatts of electricity by 2020.

Piñera warned executives that Chile would face an energy crisis during his administration and beginning in 2015 the country could face serious problems. The demand for energy in the country is estimated to grow an average of 6 or 7% annually until 2020.

Among other measures Piñera planned to combat these problems by increasing the percentage of Chile’s …

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Source: The Santiago Times 

Involving leading institutions in Chile and the USA, the agreement aims to foster research in the fields of education, energy and biotechnology. 

The Chilean government has signed a strategic bilateral agreement with the state of Massachusetts, opening the way for collaborative research in the key areas of education, energy and biotechnology.

In an interview with EFE press agency, Chilean Ambassador to the United States Arturo Fermandois said the deal was part of a broader plan to transform Chile into a fully-fledged developed nation by the end of the decade.

Home to some of the world’s leading universities, including Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Tufts, Fermandois said Massachusetts was an “ideal partner” for the South American nation.

“It’s the state that generates the most knowledge, the state that is granted the most patents and the state that has the most productive academics.”

Each year the …

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Source: I Love Chile

On Dec. 10, President Sebastián Piñera attended the inauguration ceremony for Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the President of Argentina, for her second term in office, pledging to strengthen the relationship between Argentina and Chile.

He stated that Chile’s main objective was “to have the best relationship with every country in the world, but particularly with our neighbors.”

Those present at the ceremony included presidents Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, Evo Morales of Bolivia, José Mujica of Uruguay and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, among other dignitaries.

Although relations between the two countries have been a little bumpy, there has been no major direct conflict since the 1970s, which was a territorial conflict. Since the transitions to democracy in Chile in 1989 and Argentina in 1983, there has been greater economic integration, though Chile has had more of stable growth while Argentina has had ups and downs. Now, the …

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Source: Bloomberg

Chile’s economy is weathering the global economic downturn with near full employment, indicating interest rates may remain at their highest level in almost three years, the central bank’s deputy governor said.

“My base scenario is that the economy is at a level consistent with potential output, so monetary policy should continue to be more or less in a neutral stance,” Manuel Marfan said in an interview in Santiago yesterday. “But there are risks, and it all depends on the size of the shocks.”

Policy makers have kept the key interest rate at 5.25 percent at their past five meetings as they wait to see if the European crisis will erode demand for commodity exports and damp inflationary pressures. The economy grew 3.4 percent in October from a year ago, the slowest pace since the aftermath of an February 2010 earthquake, the central bank reported yesterday.

“There are signals that there …

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