9 COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF CHILE WITH RESPECT TO OTHER COUNTRIES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

Among the comparative advantages of Chile highlight being a food and tourism powerhouse and one of the leading copper producers worldwide. This country in the south of the world has a unique geomorphology, with a long strip of land surrounded by sea, islands and the Andes mountain range, as well as having sovereignty in Antarctica.

The Republic of Chile, whose capital is Santiago, is a developing country, with more than 18 million inhabitants, according to the 2002 Census. It has a GDP per capita that has had a sustained growth, with high rates of literacy and quality. of life. In addition, it presents an economic model that is connected at a global level, with more than 50 Free Trade Agreements (FTA).

You may also be interested in knowing what are the natural resources of Chile?

Comparative advantages of Chile with respect to other countries in Latin America

1- Sustained growth

According to data from the Chilean government, this country has a neoliberal, open and stable economic model that favors trade and encourages foreign investment.

GDP growth over the past seven years has been significant. Although it has shown declines, the country has grown by an average of 3%.

Since 1990, Chile has been developing its economy. In 1992 it reached 12% of GDP and in 2010, it was 6%. The highest figures. Although the Asian Crisis in 1998 and then the Subprime in 2008 explain the falls, they were not so significant, in analogy with the rest of the countries.

The Chilean model is prominent in the rest of the world. Hence, it is a comparative advantage over other Latin American countries. The slogan: save in good times and stimulate social investment in times of crisis.

Chile has low external debt and has been known to overcome natural disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and, recently, serious forest fires. Still it remains stable.

However, it has flaws. "Despite strong economic growth, Chile continues to be a highly unequal society in terms of income, wealth and education," says a study by the ODCE, which diagnoses the reality of this country.

2- Food power

Another advantage of Chile is that it is a food powerhouse. After copper mining, agriculture represents one of the economic activities that provides the most resources.

At the southern hemisphere level, it is one of the relevant actors in the food trade, according to the El Economista website.

It supplies raw materials for healthy and safe food and groceries, with fruits, vegetables, vegetables and legumes, which it sends to countries on five continents.

The Chilean country is the main global exporter of fruits such as grapes, blueberries and fresh cherries, apples and dehydrated plums. In fish, it also plays an important role in the foreign market, especially in whole and frozen salmon, and mussels.

"The main characteristics of the autochthonous food parcel are its quality, safety, traceability, international guarantee and natural flavor," says the specialized media.

Worldwide, Chile ranks second as a marketer of shelled walnuts, fresh plums and hazelnuts.

The fertility of the lands stands out, with a unique climate, clear skies, fresh water reserves and protection of geographical condition, which define Chile as a "phytosanitary island".

3- Territorial diversity

Chile is a tri-continental country. The above is graphed as follows: it has islands and archipelagos; like Easter Island (on the continent of Oceania), Chiloé and the Juan Fernández Archipelago, belong to the American continent. In addition, it has territory in Antarctica.

For this reason, it is said, geopolitically, that the Chilean territory is tricontinental. In addition, Chile is characterized by having the driest desert in the world: the Atacama desert and having as its "wall" the eastern limit, the Andes mountain range.

But it also has sea extended along its coastal territory of the Pacific Ocean; native forests in southern Chile; glaciers such as Laguna de San Rafael, and in the extreme south it has national parks such as Torres del Paine, The above is clearly a comparative advantage, since it makes it an attractive country for tourism, investment and connects it with the world, as a single nation, in terms of its territorial diversity.

4- Boom in tourism

In January 2017 alone, almost a million foreign tourists visited Chile. The reason is precisely the territorial variety, which makes the country an area rich in biodiversity, with unique flora and fauna, on this side of South America.

The Undersecretary of Tourism of the Ministry of Economy, of the Government of Chile, carried out a balance in February 2017. The result of the analysis showed that 964,027 foreigners entered in January. This translates into an increase of 32% compared to the same period of the previous year.

It should be noted that this increase was mainly due to the growth of Argentine tourists, who reported an increase of 46% (647,955), if compared to January 2016.

And this trend has been seen in the last 5 years on the rise, as a preferred tourist destination for Europeans, Latinos and North Americans. Margin that should be repeated in summer 2018.

5- First country to join the OECD in South America

Although Chile is not yet a developed country, in the last 20 years it has shown sustained growth in reducing poverty, school dropout levels and has grown in public infrastructure.

Hence, it is the first South American country to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Chile has one of the Latin American economies that has reported a sustained GDP in two decades, which made it a deserved champion to join the international organization.

However, despite showing signs of progress in reducing poverty, it still owes a debt to social inequality and poor income distribution.

6- Large copper producer

Chile is characterized by being a world producer of copper. It owns the state mining company Codelco (Chile's National Copper Corporation), with several mines throughout the country, but transnational companies also coexist that have made this resource the highest income in the country.

In 2011 alone, Chilean copper mining accounted for more than a third of world copper production, with a total production of 5.3 million tons of this raw material, highlights the Rankia website.

Without going any further, more than 19% of Chile's public income comes from copper production. For this reason, this industry is the most important nationwide.

Codelco is the world's largest copper producer. The year 2012 produced 1.75 million tons. In addition, it controls around 9% of the world's reserves of this metallic mineral.

On the other hand, the Luksic group's Antofagasta Minerals is the fifth largest copper producer in the world.

7- Population growth and arrival of immigrants

This year in Chile, on April 19 the 2017 Census will take place. Event sponsored by the Government of Chile, but launched by the Ministry of Economy, through the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

This is to determine how many Chileans are currently living, in addition to knowing the number of immigrants. In the last 3 years, a large number of population has arrived en masse from Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Brazil, due to internal problems of those nations.

These people are looking for an opportunity that Chile offers them, which makes it a more cosmopolitan country and integrated into the world.

According to the INE, Chile has a population that exceeds 18 million inhabitants. After this year's measurement, the agency projects a population that could exceed 23 million people plus one million resident immigrants.

8- Open economy

Chile is actively inserted in the "Global Village". It has one of the most open economies on the planet.

It all started in the early 1990s when Chile returned to democracy, after 17 years of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

From that period, the country opened up to the world and entered into a series of Free Trade Agreements (FTA), with Latin American nations, but also with the rest of the world.

The commercial ties it established with the largest economies: China, the United States and the European Union stand out.

Until today, the FTAs ​​signed by Chile allow it to have free access to the main markets of the world; reaching more than 4200 million people located on the five continents. To date, it has 21 commercial agreements with more than 50 countries.

9- Fishing country

Another comparative advantage is that it is a fishing country. The length of its coasts exceeds 4,300 km, within its exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles), according to the Chilean Ministry of Economy.

Within this space, there are highly productive ecosystems, which is a plus for the country, which is positioned as a producer of fishery resources valued and demanded in world markets.

As a result, Chile has ranked among the top ten countries with the highest fish landings.

In the last 40 years, the leap has been made in infrastructure, where the public and private sectors have played a significant role in the development of the activity. "Policy and strategy adjustments have been established that are reflected in legal modifications," explains the Ministry of Economy.

Species such as salmon, horse mackerel, anchovy and hake are the most widely sent abroad. Along with these, crustaceans are the most exported, mainly to China.

According to Open Letter, these shipments "have been on the rise in the last three years, going from UIS $ 95 million exported in 2014, to US $ 123 million in 2016, this is an increase of 52% in value exported in the last two years".

References

1. Study: “Annual report on foreign trade of Chile” (2014-2015). Department of Studies, General Directorate of International Economic Relations, Ministry of Foreign Relations, Government of Chile.
2. Study: "Economic growth in Chile: evidence, sources and perspectives" (2005). From Gregorio, José. Public Editions, Government of Chile, Santiago.
3. Study: “OECD Economic Studies; Chile ”(2015). Better Policies Program for a better life. Made by experts from the ODCE.
4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chile abroad. Recovered from: chile.gob.cl.
5. New record: almost a million tourists arrived in Chile in January. Recovered from: t13.cl.
6. Tomás Pablo R. Chile exports food to markets on five continents. Recovered from: eleconomistaamerica.cl.
7. Sisternes, A. The world's largest copper producers. Recovered from rankia.com.
8. Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism. Recovered from: economia.gob.cl.
9. Bío Bío Region increases the exported value of marine products by 52%. Recovered from: cartaabierta.cl.