Spain is the gateway for Latin American companies in Europe. A few days ago, a score of Chilean companies had the opportunity to participate in an agribusiness meeting in Madrid, where they could have individual interviews with 53 importers from Spain, the UK, Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, France, Turkey and Russia. In total, there were 300 interviews.
Spain is an economy that, through its exports, which have played an important role in the economy's starting recovery, has strengthened its international presence in recent years. The rise of imports, which increased by 7% in the first quarter of 2014 when compared to the same period of 2013 and amounted to 64,886.8 million Euro (88,400 million dollars), is especially important for exporting economies like Chile. This increase is also a prelude to the recovery of the vital domestic demand.
Complementary economies
Both the Chilean economy and the Spanish economy are complementary agriculturally. The progress in technology and transportation, and the opposing seasons between the northern and southern hemispheres create business opportunities for both countries on a global scale, where the distribution networks that they have woven can be exploited for the benefit of both countries.
Spain is the eighth world power in the food industry: its industry exports about 40,000 million Euro (U.S. 54,000 million). Chile ranks fifteenth with sales of around 27,000 million Euro (U.S. 37,000 million). The Spanish and Chilean industries are seeking to improve their prices. Moreover, Chile aims to achieve have exports for 43,000 million Euro (U.S. 60,000 million dollars) in ten years.
Free Trade agreements as a springboard
Chile is the country with the most free trade agreements in force, as it has signed them with more than sixty countries. The agreements give it access to billions of consumers scattered across the five continents and conditions that are better than those available for the people in their own country.
The presence of so many foreign companies, including Spain, in Chile is due, among other reasons, to the meetings that the Chilean companies have just had in Spain, i.e. to the transit status to other nearby territories with which they establish purchasing and sale relationships for fruit products, which can be seen in the reported number of exports and imports.
Source: Eleconomistaamerica