Iván Marambio nets key commerce role

Asoex president Iván Marambio has been elected as the new president of the Chile-India Binational Business Council of Sofofa, Chile’s leading business organisation.

Sofofa’s Binational Business Councils play a key role in promoting business links between countries, complementing the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, in building long-term relationships.

“At Asoex we believe that this appointment is a very good opportunity to make the fresh fruit sector visible within the business sectors that are part of Sofofa,” Marambio said, noting that fruit – apples, kiwifruit and cherries – make up three of the 11 Chilean non-copper products most exported to India.

Marambio described India as a strategic market for Chile, “where we must be and grow”. Last year, Asoex took part in a tour of India organised by Sofofa and ProChile to identify new opportunities for Chilean exporters.

There are currently 18 Binational Business Councils, in addition to the Business Council of the Pacific Alliance.

The president of Sofofa, Rosario Navarro, commented: “India presents itself as an attractive and promising destination for commercial relations with Chile, thanks to its population of more than 1.4bn potential consumers and a constantly growing middle class, which generates a growing demand for a variety of goods and services.

“Its economy, which has maintained constant growth in recent decades, offers a favourable framework for investment and export.I n addition, India’s dynamism in the field of technological innovation opens opportunities for digital and technological collaborations with Chilean companies”.

There is also a great possibility to deepen the current partial scope agreement between Chile and India into a more comprehensive free trade agreement, which would further facilitate trade integration between the two countries.

According to figures from the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations (Subrei), Chile’s non-copper exports to India totalled US$400m in 2022, an increase of 4.25 per cent on the previous year. However, India only represents 1.8 per cent of Chile’s non-copper exports to the world, so there is significant room for growth.