Speakers:

• Máximo Pacheco, Minister of Energy of Chile
• Luis Felipe Cerón, CEO, AES Gener S.A.
• Luca D'Agnese, Head of Latin America Region, Enel
• Carlos Vargas, Managing Director and head of Emerging Markets, Mizuho Securities USA
• Hamilton Moss de Souza, Vice President of Energy, CAF (moderator)
• Susan Segal, President and CEO, Americas Society/Council of the Americas

At the AS/COA annual conference in Santiago, Chile's Minister of Energy Máximo Pacheco gave updates on the federal government's energy agenda and how the country is trying to reduce marginal energy costs while boosting investments in the sector by reforming the bidding processes. An expert panel commended the changes in the sector but also highlighted challenges, such financing large-scale infrastructure projects and reconciling the growing demand with reducing environmental impact and consumption in the near future.

Speakers:

• Eduardo Gutiérrez Gómez, General Manager, IBM Chile
• Fernando López Iervasi, Country Director, Google Chile
• Carlos Murillo, Country Manager, Pfizer Chile S.A.
• Fernando Larrain Aninat, Director of Development, Diego Portales University (moderator)

Chile needs to develope its innovation and technology sectors. While 78 percent of Chileans access the internet regularly, small- and medium-sized businesses are missing out on the benefits of using technology in the day-to-day. “The companies that place technology at the heart of their business are more competitive,” said Fernando López Iervasi in a panel at the 2015 Latin American Cities Conference in Santiago. Meanwhile, speakers from IBM and Pfizer gave examples of how their corporations are investing in research and high-tech programs. 

Speakers:

• Susan Segal, President and CEO, Americas Society/Council of the Americas
• Heraldo Muñoz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile 

With its 24 free-trade agreements spanning 63 countries, few understand the importance of open markets as Chile does, said AS/COA's President and CEO Susan Segal, as she kicked off the 2015 Latin American Cities Conference in Santiago. Yet, Chile continues to look for ways to expand its trade agreements and become Latin America's bridge between the Pacific and the Atlantic. Foreign Affairs Minister Heraldo Muñoz spoke about Chile's interest in the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership, but noted the country was concerned with some aspects of current negotiations, such as the intellectual property protections for pharmaceuticals.