Visit of President Gustavo Petro: What does Colombia think about Chile?

• Good business partners, quality products and a benchmark in socio-political transformation. Broadly speaking, this is how Colombia perceives Chile, according to the 2022 Fundación Imagen de Chile Longitudinal Study.

• Colombia is the South American country that places the greatest value on the Chile origin when choosing an imported product from the region. And when looking for a partner with whom to invest and do business, our country is the first option among businesspeople in Bogota.

The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, arrived in Santiago this Monday on an official visit to Chile. His agenda will include areas of common interest between the leaders of the two countries, such as Latin American integration and the importance of climate and gender policies.

But what does Colombia think about Chile?

According to the 2022 Fundación Imagen de Chile Longitudinal Study, complied in mid-2022, Bogota has a positive perception of our country. The study highlighted, in particular, qualities such as stability and economic development. According to the data gathered, the level of knowledge and favorability that Colombians have of Chile is significantly higher than the rest of the cities evaluated, even higher than São Paulo and Mexico City.

The study positions Chile as the first option among businesspeople in Bogota when looking for a partner with whom to invest and do business. 51% chose Chile over the other countries mentioned – Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Peru. Mexico occupied second place with 46%.

“Chile is now the main South American investor in Colombia. Our perception study shows a high level of interest in our country among Colombians, with special focus on business opportunities and progress in public policies,” explained Rossana Dresdner, Executive Director of Imagen de Chile.

According to the study, the main concepts that are associated with our country are Culture and Gastronomy (44%), Landscapes and Geography (34%), Economy and Education (26%), and History and Politics (12%). When answering the question “What do you think about Chile? What is the first thing that comes to mind?” the most mentioned concepts were “President”, “Wine” and “Economy”, alongside “Stable”, “Culture”, “Beautiful” and “Gastronomy”.

The 2022 Fundación Imagen de Chile Longitudinal Study also measured the level of general knowledge about the country. Of the 14 cities consulted, Bogota showed the highest level of knowledge about the change of government in 2022 and the socio-political changes in recent years. The return to democracy in 1990 and our institutional strength stood out among the responses.

Chile and Colombia: an expanding business relationship.

Chile and Colombia have had a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in place since 2009. Our country is currently positioned as Colombia’s main South American investor and the fourth highest recipient of Colombian capital in the region, after Brazil, Argentina and Peru.

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Chilean exports to Colombia have grown at an annual rate of 4.56% over the last 25 years. The main exports in October 2022 were apples and pears (US$8.92 million), unspecified commodities (US$7.24 million), sulfate chemical wood pulp (US$4.55 million), fish fillets (US$3.98 million) and non-fillet frozen fish (US$3.31 million).

The attributes that Colombians most associate with Chilean products is “good quality” (85%). Wine (79%), fruit (56%), cultural products (42%) and fish and seafood (31%) are the best-known products. “These data reflect the good perception that exists about our products, where 75% of those consulted give a lot or quite a lot of value to the fact that a product or service is of Chilean origin,” the Executive Director of Imagen de Chile concluded.