2014 Santiago Blog: Chile's Finance Minister Alberto Arenas

By
David Gacs

The government is creating a $1.5 billion productivity fund to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and competitiveness, the minister said.

Chile's Finance Minister Alberto Arenas de Mesa gave a presentation on the challenges to continue the economic growth and stability that helped the country do so well over the past two decades. [Download his presentation.]

While the commodities boom brought great benefits to Chile, the world’s biggest copper producer, it also masked a lack of investments in other sectors of the economy, especially manufacturing and industrial exports. Now, with a slowdown in China’s economy, Chilean commodity exports are seeing a secular slowdown. This, as well as rising energy costs, saw less mining investment coming to Chile, said the minister.

Arenas de Mesa said Chile’s main challenges to increasing growth are:

  • To increase productivity and diversify the economy;
  • To increase and improve human capital;
  • To make investments more "dynamic;"
  • To reduce energy costs and guarantee adequate future supplies;
  • To improve infrastructure.

 

To take on these challenges, the government is creating a $1.5 billion productivity fund to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and competitiveness, with a focus on public-private partnerships.

 

Watch a video of his remarks: