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Doing business & staying in touch

Business life in Chile remains formal both in dress code and conduct. When meeting an associate, greet them with a firm handshake accompanied by a smile and direct eye contact, which is an appropriate greeting for a business setting. Business cards are immediately exchanged, and titles and surnames should be used until otherwise invited. Chileans may stand quite close to each other when speaking.

In a business environment, usted, the polite Spanish form of address, should be used instead of the more familiar tu. Failure to observe this linguistic etiquette could be construed as disrespectful or even arrogant. Some Chilean executives speak reasonably competent English but any attempt to use Spanish, however faltering, will be greatly appreciated.

Like their counterparts in North America and Europe, members of Chile's business community make good use of the working lunch. Meanwhile, Chile's international hotels, especially in the capital Santiago, have benefited in recent years from the increased popularity of the 'business breakfast'. Chileans are generally very hospitable and it is not unknown for foreign business travellers to be invited to dinner at home.

Chile generally follows the North American model of the working day, Monday to Friday 0900-1800, although Chilean business workers are known for working long hours. The best months for business visits are April to December. The summer months of January and February are slower as Chileans tend to holiday then.

Office hours: 

Mon-Fri 0900-1800.

Economy: 

With well-developed industrial and service sectors, Chile has one of Latin America's strongest economies. However, it still depends on export of primary commodities (metals and ores, fruit, fish and wood) for a large proportion of its export earnings. With commodity prices dropping recently, harsher times look likely for the Chilean economy, in line with the straitened financial times across the world.

However, Chile's industrial base has grown substantially over the last decade and includes steel manufacturing, oil production, ship building, and the production of cement and consumer goods. The mainstay of the export economy is still metals and ores: Chile is the world's leading exporter of copper and also produces zinc, iron ore, molybdenum, manganese, iodine and lithium.

The service sector has developed rapidly, especially financial services. Chile's economic performance has been strong since 2000, although annual growth had dipped slightly in 2008 to 4.1% with a further drop expected in 2009; unemployment was estimated at 7% in late 2007.

GDP: 

US$242 billion (2009).

Main exports: 

Copper, agriculture, wine and fruit, fish, livestock production, wood and wood products and textiles.

Main imports: 

Petroleum, vehicles, natural gas, soybean, excavating machinery, electrical and telecommunications equipment.

Main trading partners: 

USA, Argentina, Brazil, Japan and China.

Staying in touch in Chile

Telephone: 

Public phone boxes are unreliable, and visitors will find it cheaper to use phones in centros de llamadas (call centres) in towns, or in Internet cafes.

Mobile phone: 

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is good in built-up areas, less so outside of the towns. It is also cheap and easy to buy your own if you are in the country for any length of time although calls are not especially cheap.

Entel provides a pre-paid SIM (chip) card for unblocked phones (www.telestial.com) while Movistar (tel: 231-6595) also offers a ProJoven plan for students. For all-round country coverage, Claro is Chile’s largest network.

Internet: 

Internet cafés are open all hours in the main towns and tourist areas. Many hotels and hostels will have access to the internet which is relatively cheap at around US$1 for 30 minutes, while free Wi-Fi is becoming increasingly popular.

Post: 

The postal service, Correos de Chile (www.correos.cl), is reasonably reliable. Airmail to Europe and the USA takes approximately four days to a week.

Post office hours: 

in Santiago Mon-Fri 0830-1900; Sat 0830-1300. The central post office in Santiago is located at Plaza de Armas 559. Post offices in villages can have reduced service.

Media: 

Chile enjoys a reasonable level of press freedom, which is now enshrined in the constitution. There is, however, a heavy conservative tilt to the media, which has never quite redressed the imbalance of the Pinochet-era restrictions. The Santiago Times is the only English language daily in Chile (www.santiagotimes.cl).

Television was introduced in 1957 and there are 63 stations. National broadcasters include Canal 13, which is part-owned by the Catholic church, UCV Televisión, Chilevisión, TVN, Mega, RED TV and Telecanal.

Press: 

• Spanish dailies include El Mercurio (conservative), La Tercera, conservative evening newspaper La Segunda, business newspaper El Diario, and government-run La Nación.
• Foreign newspapers are available.
• The Santiago Times (www.santiagotimes.cl) is published online in English, while the Patagonia Times (www.patagoniatimes.cl) concentrates on news in the country's south.

Television: 

• Although state-owned, National Television of Chile is not under direct government control.
• TV Universidad Católica de Chile (TVUC) and Universidad Católica de Valparaiso are owned by Catholic universities.
• Chilevision is owned by Sebastián Piñera, the Chilean politician and businessman widely tipped to become the next president.
• Megavisión and Red TV are private networks.

Radio: 

• Stations include Radio Nacional de Chile; news-based national commercial network Radio Cooperativa; commercial Pudahuel FM; Bio Bio La Radio and El Conquistador; and music-based Radio Horizonte.
• Santiago Radio (www.santiagoradio.cl) is a fledgling English-language online station.

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