At the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi, and before an audience of Indian authorities and businessmen, Chilean authorities discussed the challenges and opportunities for trade and bilateral exchange with India.
A key milestone in diplomatic and trade relations occurred on the second day of the Chile Summit India 2024 - Chile's first high-impact positioning activity in that market - when this event was officially inaugurated with the presence of the delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alberto van Klaveren; the Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, and the general director of ProChile, Ignacio Fernández.
Chile Summit India 2024, an event organized by ProChile, seeks to strengthen institutional ties between Chile and India, identify opportunities for commercial cooperation and advance agreements that help the exchange of goods and services.
At the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi, and before an audience of Indian authorities and businessmen, Chilean authorities discussed the challenges and opportunities for trade and bilateral exchange with India.
“We are in a time of great opportunity. India is not only one of the most dynamic economies in the world, but also a market with an impressive cultural and economic diversity, capable of offering unique opportunities for countries like Chile. Our nation, with its stability and economic openness, is well positioned to be a strategic partner in Latin America. It is no coincidence that we have chosen this moment to hold the first Chile Summit India. Our intention is clear: we want to explore and maximize the opportunities that exist for both countries,” said Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren.
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, stated that “we have a huge opportunity in India for our wine, fresh fruit, nuts, meat and forest products industry. We have to focus on achieving tariff reductions for several of the products in our export basket, especially nuts and wines. We are global suppliers of healthy, safe, quality and sustainably produced foods, and we are also a key player in the production and export of forest products. We want India and its families to know and increase their demand for Chilean products, which is why this first Chile Summit India 2024 is so important.”
ProChile's general director, Ignacio Fernández, spoke about the opportunities and challenges presented by exports to India, which totaled more than US$560 million in non-copper, non-lithium shipments in 2023, while in the first seven months of this year they totaled US$459 million, with an increase of 53% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Fernandez said Chilean food exports to India have grown by almost 1,000% since 2013, but Chile can offer more than just quality food products.
“We also see a lot of potential in creative industries – where we want India to use Chile as a location for its films – or services related to the agricultural or mining industry. We have more than 1.1 billion dollars of export opportunities for products that India imports from other markets and not from Chile,” explained the general director.
Also present at the inauguration was Iván Marambio, president of the Chile-India Business Committee, who presented a survey applied to more than 144 businessmen and 126 Chilean companies, who showed great interest in doing business with India and highlighted the barriers that still need to be overcome.
Multi-sector activities
Following the inauguration and a panel discussion on how to continue increasing bilateral trade between the two nations - in which three members of the Chilean delegation participated (Minister Valenzuela, Juan Esteban Rodríguez of Chilenuts and Antonio Walker, President of the SNA) and three Indian experts - the Chilean delegation separated into different activities.
Foreign Minister Van Klaveren had a meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar - within the framework of the second edition of the India-Chile Joint Commission -, a meeting with the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, and an academic meeting at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture met with the Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Dairy, Rajiv Ranjan Sing, and closed a wine masterclass organized by Wines of Chile.
In parallel, a delegation of nuts together with the general director of ProChile and the Minister of Agriculture visited the Khari Baoli market, one of the largest in Asia and where Chilean nuts are sold, seeing -on the ground- how they are sold and how they are promoted.
In addition, the fresh fruit and seafood delegation held meetings with supermarkets to see how to introduce these Chilean products into these types of stores.
The delegation linked to innovation, services and creative industries also presented to local counterparts the offer Chile has for filming audiovisual productions in the country, led by Alexandra Galvis, vice president of the Association of Film and Television Producers (ACPT).
On the other hand, the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (CCS) announced that 30 Indian companies will travel to Santiago in October to explore business with Chilean companies, thanks to an agreement they signed with the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.
At the end of the day, there was a second activation of the “Flavors from Chile” campaign - which will promote Chilean foods to Indian consumers - at the “Foodstories” supermarket. The retailer displayed the offer of apples, kiwis, nuts and Chilean salmon present in that store.
On Thursday, the entire delegation will travel to Mumbai to continue its promotional activities in the country.
