The first Chile Summit India, which will be held between August 27 and 30, and will visit New Delhi and Mumbai, seeks to promote fresh fruits and nuts, as well as Chilean wines and salmon.
With more than 3.2 million tons of fruit exported in 2023, Chile is the fourth largest fruit growing power in the world. One of the future bets is to double its presence in the Indian market, a country it reaches with almost 50 thousand tons per year. In view of this scenario and with the aim of strengthening trade relations and positioning high quality products, Chile Summit India, the most important diplomatic and trade mission to India in recent years, will begin on August 27.
The national delegation, led by Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren and Agriculture Minister Esteban Valenzuela, organized by ProChile and made up of representatives from the public and private sectors, seeks to explore business opportunities and consolidate Chile's presence in India. "The Chile Summit 2024 becomes the first high-impact country positioning event that we are going to hold in the Indian market, consolidating a relationship that already has its own foundations," said the foreign minister.
Minister Valenzuela added: "we believe that we must strengthen our economic relations, because India is the country with the largest population in the world, which is growing at a rate of 7-8% annually, and requires more food, particularly fruit". According to him, the summit seeks to be "a preamble to the visit that President Boric will make in the first quarter of next year. The idea is that there will be a before and after in trade relations with India", added the Secretary of State.
The advantages of the counter-season
India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a booming middle class that demands high quality products. "This country is key for Chile in the strategy to diversify our shipments to the world," explained Ignacio Fernandez, director general of ProChile. "We seek to identify new opportunities for collaboration and diversify the Chilean offer in this emerging market and we hope that India will see Chile as a hub to reach other Latin American markets and take advantage of our network of trade agreements," he added.
Chile offers fresh and seasonal products that complement local Indian production, especially in fruits and nuts that have an important added value given the off-season harvest, due to Chile's location in the southern hemisphere. "India is a market that continues to grow, on the rise, and where we are very well positioned," said Juan Esteban Rodríguez, president of ChileNut, the guild that brings together exporters of walnuts, a product that has 83% of the market share in India, and which is a sort of "spearhead" for other Chilean products in that market, with exports dating back to 2019 and today amounting to more than 50,000 tons.
In addition to the promotion of Chilean nuts, apples, kiwis and cherries, the salmon industry - second in international production - and the wine industry will be promoted through a diverse and sustainable offer. "India is a market in which we see a key opportunity for the future of world wine," said Angélica Valenzuela, commercial director of Wines of Chile. "We want to position ourselves as leaders in the country through image, promotion and education actions."
Likewise, and as part of the mission, the Chilean film and audiovisual industry, which is also part of the delegation, will seek to establish alliances with their Indian counterparts. "It is not only a question of offering locations, but of creating a technical and creative exchange that will benefit both countries," said Alexandra Galvis, vice-president of the Association of Film and Television Producers (APCT) .
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