Chile Innovation Opportunities

Why should I read this document? 

 
When confronted with the differences between your own market and the market of Chile you will likely feel that you have to adapt your product/service significantly to make it fit the preferences and expendable income of local people. While many may see this as a challenge this can also proof to be a great opportunity for your company! Adapting to a new market, like Chile, will allow your company to innovate. Not only will operating in Chile lead to new insights to be more successful in Chile, you will most likely also pick up on ideas to be more successful in your home market. 

Opportunities and tips for innovation and doing business in Chile

• Chile has the most dynamic economy in Latin America, stable environment for business and it is a good place for business cooperation with other countries in Latin America.
• Among the promising sectors in Chile are the mining sector (the dominant sector in Chile) and the energy sector. Considering the rising energy demand and limited natural resources, Chile is exploring opportunities for conventional and renewable energy. In addition, the development of biotechnology (biomedicine, biorenewables, bioprocess in agriculture and aquaculture) has become a priority for Chilean government and therefore it is supported through various policy instruments. 
• As the number of elderly people grows fast in Chile, there is a growing demand in personal medical and health services, socio-sanitary services, care homes for seniors. 
• For small start-ups with little capital, viable business opportunities could be within the real estate sectors, as there is a large demand for housing, tourism, education (particularly, in teaching English) and food business, particularly in fast food.
• Online and mobile advertising are booming in Chile, together with the demand for technologies and credit card use. E-commerce is growing across all industries and sectors. Electronic goods, cosmetics, various tickets (for events, travel) and personal services are most commonly purchased online. Coupons and social media advertising help to stimulate e-commerce.
• The Chilean government introduced several programs to assist start-ups and growing companies. Start-up Chile is the major government-sponsored program, each participating company is granted 34.400 EUR and a Chilean work visa. To support young entrepreneurs the government launched “Seed” (acceleration program for start-ups) and “Scale” (financial assistance program for growing companies) programs. To foster female entrepreneurship, the government introduced the TSF program, which will provide a grant for start-ups if at least one female is the co-founder of the company.
• Chile offers several tax reductions or exemptions: it has the 2nd lowest corporate tax rate in Latin America (only 20%), there are several free trade zones, as well as, due to a number of trade agreements, some exports could be exempt from custom duties and VAT.
• The irrigation technologies, precision agricultural equipment, fresh fruit harvesting equipment and environmentally friendly machinery are much needed in Chile. The development of such technologies might be relatively easy is Chile, due to available resources, research and business support of companies in the following sectors.