Spain-Chile Relationship – A SWOT Analysis

Chile has been traditionally remoted due to its geographical and economic traits, with roughly 98% of all its imports arriving through ports. However, in the beyond 30 years, the united states of America have gone through a massive exchange, finding itself now at the forefront of the Free Market movement – being an international leader in the signing of Free Trade Accords – and dropping its former protectionist monetary guidelines.

As a result, Chile has been at the forefront concerning many Latin American countries in terms of globalization and gaining access to global markets. This, in turn, has brought about Chile maintaining economic increase similar to other emerging economies.

As a part of this commencing of the united states of America to foreign markets, the Chilean government these days redistributed political power on a nearby basis with the incorporation of two new areas, the Arica-Parinacota and Los Ríos. The concept in the back of the creation of those new areas became to foment sales in tourism, mining, agriculture, and communications, while at the same time aiming to empower the areas and decentralize electricity from the capital. The new regions were authorized on Mar. 15, 2007, by President Michelle Bachelet.

The government’s policies have translated into a robust monetary boom, with the GDP in 2007 coming in at 5.2% versus 4% in 2006. On the disadvantage, u. S. A. Is feeling consequences from the modern international economic malaise, with unemployment hitting 7.2% in 2007. A strong financial boom has also led to a pointy upward thrust in inflation, up from 2.6% in 2006 to 7.Eight% in 2007 at the return of higher petroleum fees and the ripple effect on food charges, coupled with damaging weather situations.

It must be referred to that Spain’s financial system is also going thru a rough patch, with unemployment hitting 9.6% for the primary zone of 2008 – the very best it has been in three years – the 1/3 consecutive area of rising unemployment. This sharp increase in unemployment has even stoked worries the Spanish government might also run out of the budget to pay unemployment advantages in September.

Still – and no matter the domestic nature of cutting-edge Spanish press with admire to the disintegrate of its creation region and rising unemployment – the overall perception of Chile in Spain is one among a Latin American u. S. That has undergone a rigorous monetary coverage that has led to its being taken into consideration as an emerging use with a surprisingly low united states threat.

In a roundabout way, Chile ought to advantage from a suffering Spanish economic system – which has been constructed on EU subsidies and a booming production region – as many Spanish corporations sense they should diversify and look outdoor their borders for growth. Of specific hobby are Spanish production groups which have been closely diversifying in Spain into the power area. Spanish companies are particularly interested in Latin America, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

In Spanish business circles, it’s far commented that Chile’s economic balance – in sharp contrast to that experienced in different Latin American countries – has made the united states of America attractive for funding. While mining stays a sector of interest, Spanish businesses are also interested in the banking, telecommunication, and strength sectors.

Despite the sturdy rise in Chile’s inflation, Spanish analysts see persisted financial balance in that u. S. A ., with the sustained economic boom, albeit at lower rates than in previous years given the cutting-edge international financial downturn.

In well-known, it’s miles regarded, but, that boom will maximum probably come from Chile’s persevered emphasis on exports and power to trap overseas investment. To similarly encourage foreign investments, Chile ought to retain to make sure now not only the liberalization of its markets and financial transparency but also to optimize its Free Trade Agreements.

That said, it is often noted in Spain that the downside of Chile’s monetary increase is that wealth isn’t always being equally divided by most of the Chilean populace. More concretely, the distinction between Chile’s rich and its bad is becoming an increasing number of states. In this age of company duty, and with its growing significance within the Spanish company global, such discrepancies in wealth distribution ought to come into play with recognizing future investments, both in wonderful or negative mild.

Concerning Trade, Chile exports greater than its imports, with energy representing around 63% of Chile’s exports in 2006, whilst it most effectively imported around 25% in the equal length.

However, those figures are misleading as Chile has restrained home strength resources, with the USA importing most of the people of its electricity wishes. Chile has shown a reliance on herbal fuel exports, in particular, those coming from Argentina. Since 2004 – while Argentina started out restricting its natural gas exports – Chile has been revising its power policy.

Outside of energy, Chile additionally exports sizeable agricultural goods (result and horticulture), representing around 20% of all exports in 2006, at the same time as it handiest imported 7% in this class for the identical yr. In 2006, production items represented around 10% of all of Chile’s exports, at the same time as it imported near 60% within the identical category of products.

Or in different phrases, Chile’s export shape is largely divided similarly between industrial (forty-five %) and mining (45%) and the final 10% in agricultural items.

Within the economic merchandise, the largest export items are cellulose, methanol, and chemical products. Of increasing significance within the last decade are wooded area products, salmon, and wine.

It should be noted that while Chile is attempting to diversify away from its dependence upon the semi-production of copper – a product that represented 60% of the country’s exports inside the 1970s – to 35% in 2004, this product is still overly represented within the united states of America’s export basket and the Trade Balance due to international needs and rising market expenses for this commodity.

Chile exported $1.Three billion to Spain in 2007, down barely from almost $1.4 billion in 2006. By contrast, Chile exported $8.Four billion in 2007 to America, slightly down from $8.9 billion in 2006. With appreciation to imports, Chile acquired $845 million in items from Spain in 2007, up from $708 million in 2006. With admiring the U.S., $7.3 billion of North American items were imported in 2007, up sharply from the $5.6 billion Chile imported in 2006.