Projecting more than 400 business meetings, Enexpro Sea Products began

Representatives of companies from Asia, Europe, Australia and the entire American continent came to Puerto Varas to participate in the Enexpro Products of the Seaevent organized by ProChile which includes a business wheel for the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

In the instance, 30 companies from 21 countries participate, brought by ProChile to hold meetings with some 60 national firms. The institution plans to carry out 420 meetings between importers and national companies, coming from almost all regions of the country. 

At the opening ceremony, the Director General of ProChile, Ignacio Fernández, held an exhibition on the diversified supply of food from the Chilean sea, as well as the export opportunities that the institution has detected in international markets. 

“Seafood is our largest export industry after mining. Last year we shipped more than US$7,700 million to about 120 markets,” Fernández said. “This event connects the wide range of products from our sea with buyers in Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australia. We are particularly proud to be doing this in the Los Lagos region, which is an icon in marine food production.” 

The forum, developed on 26 and 27 November in the Lake Region, involves companies from countries as diverse as China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, Lithuania, France, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Colombia, among others. Importers are also present from Australia, a market that was opened last month for the import of fresh salmon from Chile. 

The inaugural ceremony was also attended by the General Manager of the Chilean American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), Paula Estévez; the President of SalmonChile, Arturo Clément; the Corporate Director of the Salmon Council, Rodrigo Pinto and Wilson Pais, National Director of Technologies (NTO/CTO) of Microsoft Chile, who made an exhibition on Artificial Intelligence in International Business. 

“Today, the United States is the main export destination for Los Lagos Sea products and we see that there are many opportunities to continue to increase the presence of local companies in the US market thanks to the multiple benefits of agreements such as the Chile-United States Free Trade Agreement and the recently approved Double Taxation Agreement,” said Estévez. He added that "Our invitation is to dare to expand their businesses to the United States, a single market that offers great opportunities for domestic products, because they value fresh and sustainable products, very important and distinctive features of our local offer." 

After the business wheel, importing companies have the possibility to know the facilities of companies producing salmon and mussels. 

By October, seafood exports had exceeded US$6,300 million, principally salmon. Chile is the world’s leading exporter of salmon, as well as mussels and jack mackerel. The main markets are the United States, Japan and Brazil. Exports to Spain, Canada and Taiwan have grown substantially this year.