¡Hola, Hi, Bonjour, Hej!

While we would love to tell you about the many local activities, the diverse ways the people who come from all over the world to vacation in Chile celebrate and enjoy the summer months, the feel of the air, the indescribable (but we try anyway....) esthetically pleasing and sublimely fragrant flowering trees and plants; how much WE enjoy living it up "Chile-Style," because summer in the southern hemisphere DOES feel different in a most relaxing, no-stress, party all day way, (okay, time-out for a breath, gotta finish this run-on sentence....), we think it is high time to share a few of our personal ruminations. We are now going to spend some time writing about the emergence of Chile into the World Market. Since we did our fair share of traveling and researching the world BEFORE we decided that Chile would be our new home, perhaps in our humble thoughts and writings you will find some useful information.

It is no secret that Chile is poised for tremendous growth and there are opportunities galore for anyone with the brains and background necessary to take this thriving, economically healthy country to the next level in world economic affairs. The fact that there are corporations around the world who have brought with them a great influx of wealth into the country of Chile is also no secret, but what IS a bit of a secret is this: Chile is like a young adult looking out at its world-wide "audience" from behind the curtains on a stage. Chile, like a young adult soon to experience college graduation, has their entire future before them. Chile is the Class Valedictorian, the student voted Most Likely to Succeed AND the student with the Highest Grade point Average all rolled up into ONE, sweet, innocent package.

Chile has all the bases covered but they have had little practical experience as of yet. Chile is not the seasoned veteran in world economics and lacks some street smarts. Textbook education and hands-on education are two different animals and the USA has been raising the bar of technology and innovation for many, many years. During this time, Chile has been watching the world and the USA in particular, as it has quietly been growing and gaining its education. Chile has learned many lessons and the world is now waiting and watching to see what will occur in Chile. We think the world is in for a very BIG surprise.

While Chile really does need a bit more experience, it does lack street smarts. We gringos from the USA have been in economic warp drive for so many years that the creative engines are beginning to suffer from age-related problems and could use at the very least, a tune-up. The USA has been a world leader in production, per capita GDP and agricultural output for so long that it is now simply taken for granted. The rate of growth experienced in the States, while significant over the years, pales in comparison to Chile's when you consider what Chile has accomplished.

Try to appreciate what has taken place in Chile within the last 20 years: Chile has developed a world-class infrastructure with excellent transportation, communication and medical systems, which are all now in place. The Chilean banking system is stable, consistent and has plenty of capital to lend for worthy projects. The ports are modern and efficient. Chile also has one of the most transparent economies in the world today.

Few, if ANY countries can boast the types of accomplishments and advancements that Chile has achieved in such a relatively short period of time. Chile's diligence and hard work has paid off. Yet, in the not too distant past, most Chileans accepted dirt roads and ferry rides across the many rivers, just to reach ONE particular town. Thirty years ago, it was an adventure to travel from Santiago to Pucón! Now it takes about eight hours and the roads are so nice it is hard to believe it could possibly have EVER been any different!

Take one moment to picture the changes that have taken place in the USA and many parts of the world in the past 30 years. Faxes, calculators, desktop computers, hand's-free car phones and a TV/DVD player IN the car, also, just to keep the kids occupied during a last-minute business briefing, not to mention remote controls that can be programmed to turn on lights in your home, open up the garage, disable the electronic security system, if you have one and even tell your microwave to defrost the frozen dinner and voila, you will arrive home where dinner is served! There's more though: cell phones, electronic banking, specialized inventory control systems and even real-time tracking of order shipments via satellite positioning. In addition to all of these changes which most of us have either helped develop or at the very least utilize, there are literally thousands of industrial advancements and technological improvements. No one can deny that change has been incredible and widespread in Chile.

Try to envision all of these same changes that occurred in the USA, taking place in a country which not too many years before, had trouble supplying something as simple, yet necessary, as bread to its citizens. Chile was a country with little-to-no infrastructure. We recently had lunch with a Chilean-born son of Russian immigrants. He recounted the above-mentioned drive from Santiago to Pucón, now an easy eight-hour drive. Back in his youth, and this was NOT very long ago, it did take three days to accomplish this now-comfortable journey. There were ferries needed for crossing the many rivers and the road was dusty, dry gravel nearly the entire way.

Look around your favorite US supermarket as you shop for groceries. The Vegetable department is a good place to start. As you look at the bounty of beautiful fruits and vegetables available for you to enjoy year-round, you may notice a small plastic sticker on the plump, juicy tomatoes, avocadoes, oranges, peaches, nectarines and more.... The list should probably take in almost the entire produce department, and we think most of the stickers probably will say, "Product of Chile." Remember, while you are up North and are enjoying a winter snow- or rainstorm, down our way, we are enjoying a warm-to-hot and quite beautiful summer. This explains those stickers on the produce. You are looking at fruit and vegetables that were most likely still attached to their respective trees or vines down here in Chile just last week. It is truly amazing how fast produce can be picked, processed and packed for shipment into the USA and then off it goes to stores all across the USA and the world. This has all occurred in a relatively short period of time.

Take a walk to the freezer section of Costco, if you have one of those warehouse stores nearby. You will most likely find that the frozen salmon you just put in your cart originated in Chile. Chile is the world's second largest salmon producer! Then there is the wood paint stirring sticks you may need. The sticks from Chile can be found at a Home Depot; or, because one third of the world's copper comes from Chile, whenever you flip on a light switch, you can probably thank Chile for the copper wiring used throughout your house. Combine all of this with a stable, democratic society and a progressive economic system, set up by Harvard-educated pencil-pushers and you can easily see that Chile is a shining star and has, in many ways accomplished the impossible. Chile had a budget surplus last year, sold more goods to foreign countries than it purchased and kept inflation to a low and manageable level. There is a strong middle class with high home ownership figures and an excellent education system that now requires English to be taught.

As we look around the world, we view Chile as a country who has not only paid its dues but it has also formed a solid base that can sustain an avalanche of its own economic growth and prosperity. We really cannot see this type of preparation for future growth in any other country on Earth. Europe and the USA are becoming large debtor nations with huge impending Social Security problems. The primary exports from the USA, besides weapons are technology and knowledge. There is no question that the USA possesses vast knowledge and technological resources. These are resources which are much more difficult to come by in a country which has just lifted itself from the depths of poverty and are in high demand in a country hungry to feed its engine of growth and prosperity.

The volume of wine, produce, salt and other goods which Chile has contracted to sell to the world grows with each passing year and shows no signs of decreasing in any of the scenarios we have envisioned as the future of Chile. It is exciting for us to be viewing this economic growth from within this country as well, for we feel the pride that each one of Chile's citizen's wears as a badge of honor. Everything looks to be in place for Chile's grand entrance into the world economic community. Chile is a country whose future is being noticed more and more in boardrooms around the world. There have been whispers in the past and these whispers have given way to investing. No one can say that Chile is a bad or irresponsible investment, NO ONE! The time is right for investments, technological advancement, diversification and most importantly the introduction of "Smart Money."

We have recently been introduced to a whole new crop of Chile's industrial movers and shakers. It turns out that with the many foreign investment incentives and the high number of wealthy Chilean corporations, Chile is not in need of financial capital. What the wise operators in Chile are aware of is that Chile is, in a sense, naive in terms of big business. It isn't the Presidents and Vice Presidents per se but the rest of the organizations who need a broadening of their perspectives. We still see typewriters in use at many locations. The people of Chile DO have a newfound sense of prosperity but they are still immature and not quite sure how to handle this prosperity. People from the USA have experienced so much more in our lives. We were born into prosperity. Most of the successful in Chile have experienced prosperity for a relatively short time. They are just beginning to see heroes emerge who were able to raise themselves from poverty to wealth. People from the United States have seen and heard these success stories for almost their entire lives. McDonald's, KFC's Colonel Sanders, Bill Gates, Apple Computers and Sam Walton (Wal-Mart), are but a few of the many incredible success stories which are accompanied by thousands of other smaller-scale rags-to-riches stories. People from the USA now have a certain cultural expectation of prosperity. Through all of this we have seen and been involved in the creation and building of the financial and economic empire that is the USA.

So what is the point anyway? Well, what we have become aware of is that Chile is in desperate need of importing certain attitudes, procedures, and systems which have become common and everyday in the States but which escape the thoughts and expectations of the average Chilean. Chile now needs to have the bar raised. It is taking place as we speak. The window of opportunity will be short but for those who get in now, we honestly believe the sky is the limit. The financial and business leaders of Chile are infinitely aware of this and therefore the term "smart money" has been circulating around various boardrooms where the future of Chile is being mapped out. Chile needs YOUR knowledge and is willing to pay for it. Should an investor enter Chile with capital, so much the better? We know of a few opportunities for sizable investments in the neighborhood of, say, $30-50 million dollars. With that amount of money one could buy into an established Chilean company and the already-established company will reciprocate by depositing an equal amount of money back to your corporation or actually a trade of shares of ownership. The Chilean company knows that along with the outside ownership comes outside technology, systems and know-how. In addition will come visions for the future, which do seem to be a scarce commodity in Chile at the present time. Chilean companies want to hire US Vice-Presidents, Corporate Managers and Directors. They want the vision and the expertise. They also do not necessarily want "youthful" visionaries. Chile happens to revere the more seasoned Director or Manager. Youth is good, but when any growth-spurt is present, the wisdom that comes with experience is preferable.

For hundreds of years Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina have had their respective histories. International corporations from Europe and the USA have long had operations in the Southern Cone. Before the Panama Canal, a great number of freighters plied the waters of the Straights of Magellan and made the great port cities of these countries their ports of call. That was then and this is now. Now is the beginning of the new Global Age. Many of us are feeling change is in the wind as we look at the great Northern Empires in the USA and Europe. We are looking for the newest, safest and best place under the sun. We all, well some of us anyway, want a piece of heaven on Earth and maybe a little bit more than our fair share of the new prosperity.

If one comes to Chile with the desire of building a nice retirement home for oneself, on a beautiful parcel overlooking the ocean, a river or a lake and perhaps have a golf course nearby, that is one thing and it is a very viable plan for a good number of reasons. However, on an entirely different level, if those same people have families who need to work and who need opportunity, people who either own or represent large corporations or have expertise working for a progressive Northern operation, they have a whole different reason to relocate to Chile. Corporate planners should begin educating themselves regarding the opportunities possible if they invest and export their technology and systems to Chile. Chilean corporations are looking for firms to invest in their Chilean companies, not for the money but for the knowledge and vision these firms can provide. There are opportunities all over the world but few are as ripe for planting a seed and actually seeing it grow and bear fruit, as is possible, at this very moment, in Chile. The soil has been tilled, the water system is in, and transportation, warehousing and distribution are all in place. Everything is ready to simply sow some seeds and add some catalyst. This same logic would equally apply for a smaller venture as well as an individual looking for a new job in a new land. Whether one is looking for a corporate officer's position, middle management or a position in a field of technical specialization, there should be vast opportunities waiting. If one is looking to develop their own small business and you have some expertise or you are interested in partnering with an existing Chilean firm, chances are that you may possess the special vision and insight necessary to make a success of yourself in the Southern-most country in the world.