Doing Business 217the manufacturing of cookies and candy. Chile also provides
‘technical exports’, i.e., the transfer of knowledge and
expertise. Chileans boast about the fact that their pension
and health care systems have been studied carefully by
several other countries. Chilean assistance has been provided
in designing and setting up similar systems elsewhere.
General Business Climate
Working in Chile will present some minor challenges,
although the government makes every attempt to aid
foreign investors. It promotes an open economy, keeps
the level of state intervention to a minimum and strongly
encourages free enterprise. A slew of government publi-
cations are available detailing start-up requirements,
special trade zones, accounting requirements, corporate
taxes, exchange rates, etc. Furthermore, CORFO (Chilean
Economic Development Agency) and Cinver (Chilean
Foreign Investment Committee) provide significant help in
setting up a business in Chile.
Useful Websites
CORFO : http://www.corfo.cl
Cinver: http://www.cinver.clWhile multi-national corporations are routinely welcomed
to Chile, they could face be a bit of opposition from some
sectors of society. For example, few Chileans would like to see
the copper industry back in the hands of foreign companies,
if only for nationalistic reasons. Furthermore, the growing
environmental movement has a somewhat negative opinion
of international companies. Some Chileans allege that these
corporations, having destroyed their own homelands, are
now pillaging the lands of the Third World.
Doing Business
The following section focuses on the general office
environment in Chile. However, many people who have
been posted to Chile will not find themselves behind a desk,