Chile se mantiene como líder en “economía digital” a nivel latinoamericano

Chile es el país de América Latina mejor posicionado en términos de “economía digital”, de acuerdo con un estudio anual elaborado por la Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) de la prestigiosa publicación The Economist y el Institute for BusinessValue (IBV) de IBM.

Por segundo año consecutivo, Chile se emplaza en el lugar número 30, aunque su puntaje total bajó levemente, de 6.49 en 2009 a 6.39 este año.

Para elaborar el “Digital economy rankings 2010“, se midieron seis variables: conectividad y calidad de la infraestructura en tecnologías, ambiente de negocios, entorno social y cultural, normativas legales, políticas de gobierno y adopción de consumidores y negocios.

En éstas, Chile logró su mejor puntaje en ambiente de negocios (8 de 10), seguida por normativas legales (7.4). En tanto la peor evaluada fue conectividad y calidad de la infraestructura en tecnologías, con un 4.15.

Pese a ello, Chile lidera en todos estos aspectos a nivel latinoamericano, donde es seguido por países como México (41), Brasil (42), Argentina (46), Colombia (50), Perú (53), Venezuela (55) y Ecuador (60).

En términos globales, los primeros cinco lugares del ranking -que se elabora desde el año 2000- los ocupan Suecia (el año pasado estaba 2), Dinamarca (1 en 2009), Estados Unidos, Finlandia y Holanda.

Además de tomar en cuenta las seis características antes mencionadas, para llegar a la puntuación particular de cada nación se tomaron en cuenta indicadores como la calidad de la banda ancha, de los servicios móviles, costo de conexiones a internet y el nivel de penetración de ésta, entre otros factores.

Fuente: Emol.com

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Chile es el país más abierto a inversión externa en la región

Ningún sector de la economía local está restringido.

Chile es uno de los países más abiertos del mundo en aceptar inversiones extranjeras en los distintos sectores de la economía, destacó ayer el Banco Mundial en un informe que entrega por primera vez datos precisos sobre las leyes y regulaciones que afectan la inversión extranjera directa.
“Chile, Guatemala y Perú están entre las economías más abiertas del mundo, casi sin restricciones sobre la propiedad extranjera”, recalcó el informe “inversiones que cruzan la frontera”. Según los resultados del reporte, en el caso de Chile, los 33 sectores cubiertos por los indicadores (entre ellos banca, aseguradoras, electricidad, telecomunicaciones, agricultura) están completamente abiertos a la participación de capital extranjero, situación que se repite en el caso de Guatemala.
Otras economías de la región, como México, Venezuela o Bolivia, restringen la inversión extranjera en ciertos sectores como el del transporte, energía o de medios.
Aún así, el informe destaca que los países de Latinoamérica y el Caribe imponen pocas restricciones sobre la propiedad de participación extranjera.
Por el contrario, economías como China, Indonesia, Malasia, Filipinas, Tailandia y Vietnam restringen la participación extranjera en muchos sectores económicos.
“Países con poblaciones menores (como Chile, Montenegro y Ruanda) han abierto más de sus sectores a la inversión extranjera directa. En contraste, economías más grandes (como China, India y México) pueden depender más del impulso de sus grandes mercados para atraer inversiones”, destaca el informe.

Demora para firmas extranjeras
Latinoamérica es la región del mundo en la que toma más tiempo abrir una filial de una firma extranjera, con una media de 74 días, frente a los 42 días a nivel global.
Entre los países más lentos a la hora de establecer una filial de una empresa foránea están Haití, Venezuela y Brasil, con una media de 212, 179 y 166 días respectivamente.
Por el contrario, en Chile se necesitan sólo 29 días, cifra que se acerca a los 21 días de promedio en los países de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE). “Chile está muy bien evaluado. Se trata de uno de los procesos más cortos en América Latina y el Caribe. Chile es bastante competitivo en este indicador”, dijo a DF el especialista de política y promoción de inversión del Banco Mundial, Kusi Hornberger.
El reporte concluye que los países que muestran un buen desempeño en los indicadores tienden a atraer más inversión extranjera directa. “No se puede mirar al futuro y decir si van a atraer más inversiones, pero en promedio, los países que tienen instituciones más fuertes y procedimientos más rápidos atraen más inversión”, dijo Hornberger.

Fuente: Diario Financiero

Saudi’s Agroinvest to raise $533m for farm investments

Saudi based agricultural investment firm Agroinvest is close to obtaining approval from the regulator to raise about $533 million for foreign and local farm investments, its chairman said.

Agroinvest, or the International Agriculture and Food Investment Co, is the biggest of many private firms involved in foreign farm investment that were set up in the kingdom since import reliant Gulf Arab countries started buying or leasing land in developing nations to ensure food supplies.

But farmland acquisitions by foreign investors have sparked some opposition in developing nations and the United Nations last year voiced concern that farmers’ rights in developing nations could be compromised.

Usamah al Kurdi, who chairs Agroinvest’s founding committee, said his firm would not want to tarnish Saudi Arabia’s image by buying farmlands abroad.In a telephone interview with Reuters, he said: “Everybody is getting philosophical about this issue, but Agroinvest is not a real estate firm. We are in agriculture and we want to do this with firms and farmers unions in these countries.”
He added: “The ideal scenario for Agroinvest, Kurdi said, would be to “forge partnerships with local firms or farmers unions who have a project ready. If leasing the land is an option, then we will do it with our partners.”

Seeking approval from the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for the private placement “was not a legal requirement,” he said.

Kurdi said: “We have taken the initiative to seek the CMA’s approval to show how serious we are.”

He added: “We hope to raise about $533.3 million from private and institutional investors to add to the capital raised by the founders.”

He declined to say how much capital had so far been raised from Agroinvest’s founders. Kurdi said in April that 25 percent of the capital will come from founding shareholders and the remainder from institutional investors and a public offering.

Several Saudi firms have already started farm investments in countries stretching from Indonesia to Ethiopia after a sharp rise in global food prices in 2008 and after authorities prioritised safeguarding water over self sufficiency in some crops such as wheat.

In addition to investments abroad that would include rice, grains, oilseeds and soybeans, Agroinvest plans to invest in grain silos and in funds with exposure to farm investments.

Kurdi declined to go into detail and said only that several propositions were being examined for investments in Australia, Romania, Senegal, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

He said: “Foreign investments will take 60 percent of our total investments and 40 percent will be invested locally.”

Kurdi added: “We plan investment in logistics through funds and Djibouti is being considered as a potential location.”

The company will start announcing its foreign investments after it obtains regulatory approvals to start operations “within eight to 10 weeks,” he added.

Agroinvest’s most advanced plans are in Saudi Arabia where it plans to invest in shrimp farms, poultry and greenhouses, he said. (Reuters)

Chile, International Agreements

In 1991, Chile became a signatory of the Washington Convention of 1965 that created the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Since then, the country began to negotiate Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), a mechanism through which Chile provides additional protection both to inward and outward foreign investment flows. As of November 2005, Chile had signed 52 BITs, 38 of which were in force at that time.

In these agreements, each Contracting State commits itself to provide fair and equitable treatment to investments legally materialized in its territory by investors of the other Contracting State. They also guarantee the principles of National Treatment and Most Favored Nation status.

Moreover, BITs protect private property rights through the establishment of basic principles and minimum standards in case of expropriations. Likewise, they guarantee that any expropriation or measure with similar effect will be adopted in accordance with a law based on public good or national interest, in a non-discriminatory manner. They state that expropriatory measures must be accompanied by the provisions of prompt, adequate and effective compensation.

Through BITs, the Contracting States guarantee the free transfer of capital, of profits or interest generated by foreign investments, and, in general any transfer of funds related to investments. Some restrictions may apply, in accordance with national laws.

Additionally, these agreements establish a dispute settlement mechanism in case of controversies that might arise between an investor of a Contracting State and the other Contracting State. Basically, this mechanism assures that controversies will be settled through friendly consultations. If no agreement is reached, the investor will be entitled to submit, at his own decision, the case before the domestic jurisdiction of the host State of the investment or to international arbitration. In most BITs, this jurisdictional option is definitive.

The principle of subrogation is also included in BITs. This means that if one Contracting State -or an agency authorized by it- grants any kind of insurance against non-commercial risks to an investment in the territory of the other Contracting State, the latter shall recognize the rights of the former to subrogate for the rights of the investor in case it has paid the insurance.

The protection provided by these agreements applies both to investments made after the agreement comes into force as well as to those made before that date. These BITs, however, do not apply to disputes which arise prior to their entry into force or to disputes directly related to events which occurred prior to their entry into force.

Signed treaties need to be ratified by Congress before they can be in force. Treaties are in force in Chile once they are published in the Official Gazette (the Government’s Official Registry of laws and decrees).

If you want to invest in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile or Brazil contact us at:

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Chile, Foreign Investment Statute, D.L. 600

The origins of DL 600 date back to the 1970’s when Chile radically modified its foreign investment policy, abandoning a restrictive regime established within the framework of the Andean Pact in favor of one anchored in non-discrimination and limits on the discretionary powers of the administrative authorities. This new regime offered foreign investors greater guarantees and incentives through Decree Law 600, the Foreign Investment Statute, which came into force in its original form in August 1974.

This regime is based on legal and economic principles enshrined in Chile’s Political Constitution. This has the maximum legal hierarchy and, on matters referring to economic public order, guarantees economic freedom and private property rights.

The original text of DL 600 was ratified by Congress in March 1993, with only minor modifications. The ongoing existence of this law over time reflects the importance given by Chile to a stable, long-term foreign investment policy.

Since 1974, the majority of foreign investors have chosen to use this mechanism. By 2007, foreign investment worth US$64.7 billion had been materialized under DL 600, representing 71% of the foreign capital effectively entering Chile during that period.

One of the key reasons why foreign investors prefer DL 600 is that, as well as including the principles of non-discrimination, non-discretionary treatment and economic freedom, it also provides legal certainty and stability.

 

If you want to invest in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile or Brazil contact us at:

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Chile, Regulatory Framework

he principles on which regulation of foreign investment is based are enshrined in Chile’s Political Constitution and include equality before the law, economic freedom and non-discrimination.

• Non-discrimination: This principle derives from the constitutional guarantee of equality before the law and ensures that, on economic matters, foreign investors receive the same, or not less favorable, treatment from the State and its agencies as local investors.
• Non-discretionary treatment: Procedures relating to foreign investment must be clear and transparent and administrative decisions cannot be in any way subjective, providing a guarantee that investors will receive fair treatment.
• Economic freedom: Free access to all sectors of the economy is guaranteed and only the law can, in exceptional circumstances, reserve a certain sector for domestic investment. Article 19 Nº 21 of Chile’s Political Constitution guarantees the right to develop any economic activity within the framework of the corresponding regulation, providing it is not contrary to morality, public order or national security.

If you want to invest in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile or Brazil contact us at: felipegonzalezvergara@gmail.com 

Chile, Regulations & Procedures

The norms regulating foreign investment establish in a harmonic and systematic manner the commitments and provisions applying to foreign capital entering Chile.

This framework comprises both constitutional and legal provisions.

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Chile, the country most open to foreign investment in the region

No restrictions on any sector of the economy

Chile is one of the countries in the world that is most open to foreign investment in the different sectors of the economy, according to a World Bank report which, for the first time, provides detailed information about laws and regulation affecting foreign direct investment (FDI).

“Chile, Guatemala, and Peru are among the world’s most open economies, with almost no restrictions on foreign ownership,” stated the report, Investing Across Borders. It found that, in the case of Chile, the 33 sectors analyzed (including banking, insurance, electricity, telecommunications and agriculture) are completely open to foreign ownership, a situation also existing in Guatemala.

Other Latin American economies, such as Mexico, Venezuela or Bolivia, restrict foreign investment in sectors that include transport, energy or the media. However, the report highlighted the generally low level of restrictions on foreign ownership in Latin America and the Caribbean. By contrast, economies such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam restrict foreign ownership in many sectors of their economies.

“Countries with smaller populations or markets – such as Chile, Montenegro, and Rwanda – have opened up more of their sectors to FDI. In contrast, larger economies – such as China, India, and Mexico – can rely more on the pull of their large markets to attract investment,” noted the report.

Delays for overseas companies

Latin America is the region in which it takes longest for an overseas company to open a subsidiary. This requires an average of 74 days as compared to 42 days internationally.

The countries in which this takes most time are Haiti, Venezuela and Brazil, with an average of 212, 179 and 166 days respectively. This compares with only 29 days in Chile, similar to the average of 21 days for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “Chile is very well evaluated, with one of the shortest processes in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is quite competitive on this indicator,” said World Bank expert in investment policy and promotion, Kusi Hornberger, talking to Diario Financiero.

The report concludes that countries with a good performance on the indicators it analyzes tend to attract more FDI. “It’s not possible to look into the future and say whether they will attract more investment but, on average, countries with stronger institutions and faster procedures tend to do so,” said Hornberger.

Source: Diario Financiero

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If you want to invest in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile or Brazil contact us at:

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