Despite the pandemic, the projects of overseas companies supported by the Agency increased by 20%, reaching a total of 495 initiatives at different stages of development.
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic that is affecting the world and has had a negative impact on the global economy and investment, the portfolio of projects supported by InvestChile showed positive results in 2020, with the amount managed rising by 23% to US$21,898 million, up from US$17,799 million at end-2019.
Similarly, the number of projects – at different stages of development – closed the year at 495, compared to 413 in 2019, equivalent to an increase of 20%.
According to the director of InvestChile, Andrés Rodríguez, it is important that overseas companies are continuing to choose Chile for their projects “since foreign investment will be crucial for the recovery of our economy and the creation of jobs in a post-pandemic scenario.”
“The contingency forced us to adapt our work and focus on supporting overseas companies already present in Chile, to avoid the stoppage of their projects amid the restrictions due to the pandemic, without neglecting the international promotion we undertook remotely throughout the year, including our annual seminar held in November,” said Rodríguez.
Among the foreign investors who used InvestChile’s services, the sector in which they showed most interest was energy, with projects for US$7,871 million, up by 20% on 2019. It was followed by mining and suppliers, with US$ 7,099 million (38%), and global services, with US$3,903 million (58%).
In the case of the country of origin of the foreign investment supported by the Agency, the United States returned to top place, with projects for US$4,487 million, which represented an increase of 61% on 2019, while Canada took second place, with US$4,084 million (a 42% increase) and China dropped to third place, with US$3,891 million, down by 20% on 2019.