CLICK FOR PART 1 - Mr. Lavados outlines why Santiago is a logical choice for the America's Competitiveness Forum's first venture outside Atlanta and the U.S. PART 2 - Mr. Lavados says that Chile mostly exports natural resources, but a group of 15 Chilean visited Atlanta sought to promote high-tech exports and present the country as an IT outsourcing destination. Full story

When it comes to this year’s American Competitiveness Forum, the South American nation of Chile got the last word.

As if to receive the torch from Atlanta, Chilean Economic Minister Hugo Lavados spoke at the closing ceremonies to outline the country’s plans for when the forum moves in September 2009 to its capital, Santiago.

Atlanta hosted the inaugural forum in 2007 and was selected by the Commerce Department to host it again this year.

The annual gathering brings together business and governmental officials from the Western Hemisphere to discuss about how nations in the region can cooperate to better their positions in the world economy.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said that the countries have different interests but they work together more than they compete directly.

“We complement each other in the hemisphere, we have great opportunities for synergies,” Mr. Gutierrez said at a forum press conference.

Mr. Lavados told GlobalAtlanta in a filmed interview that Chile offered to host the forum as the Commerce Department was considering moving it to another country on alternating years.

Walter Bastian, a deputy assistant secretary of commerce and one of the forum’s main organizers, told GlobalAtlanta that the Chilean government showed a strong desire to host the forum and promised the funding to back it up.

“The Chileans get it.  They understand the value of trade and how important it is to their economy,” he said.

The ensuing “conversation” between the governments led to a quick agreement that Chile, a nation of 16 million people with strong trade links throughout the world, was ready to give the event its first exposure outside the U.S., Mr. Lavados said.

“We said ‘Yes, we would like to have this,’” he told GlobalAtlanta at the downtown Hyatt Regency Atlanta, where the forum was held.  “I think that was because in Chile we have the question of competitiveness extremely embedded in our system.  We have the largest network of free trade agreements in the world.  We have free trade agreements with 57 countries.  That means that our economy is fully open.”

During the interview on the day after the forum, Mr. Lavados outlined what he believed are essential elements for producing tangible business results beyond the large gathering.

At the time, he had just spoken at a seminar at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, where 15 Chilean information technology companies were looking for business partners.  He was back at the hotel for a break before continuing his third full day of meetings. 

For high-level government officials and businesspeople alike, 12-14 hour days are typical at forums like this, where informal meetings during coffee breaks and meals can be just as important as the structured proceedings, he said.

CLICK FOR VIDEO - Brian Wilson, managing director of Georgia's trade office in Chile, summarizes the South American country's economy and identifies promising growth sectors for Georgia companies.

Mr. Bastian said this year’s forum allowed attendees to better capitalize on networking time.  Companies interacted with potential international partners, and corporate representatives met with government leaders. 

“We took full advantage of that this year and if you look at the end product, the thing that I was happiest with, it's the amount of business that was being conducted this year,” he said.

For Mr. Lavados, that meant bilateral meetings with Ecuador’s industry minister, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gutierrez as well as representatives from top companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 3M and RIM, which makes Blackberry cellular phones.

Mr. Bastian said the prestige of this year’s forum was elevated when the presidents of Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala met at the forum.  It was at least their eighth summit. 

He also said last year’s success made it easier to get top executives from large companies to speak about the various pressing topics addressed at this year’s forum.

Mr. Lavados said the forum panelists and attendees shared experiences on the topics of tourism, energy and public-private partnerships as they relate to competitiveness.

Beyond the forum, Mr. Lavados said Chilean companies are eyeing Georgia for greater trade. In Georgia, companies are looking to promote Chile as an outsourcing destination for information technology companies in the U.S.

Delta Air Lines Inc. decided to put a South American call center there even before it launched a nonstop Atlanta-Santiago flight in 2000, Mr. Lavados said.

Exports account for about 40 percent Chile’s gross domestic product, and while the country mostly sells natural resources like copper or agricultural products like grapes and salmon, there is a move toward diversifying the economy.

Mr. Lavados also spoke about Chile's free trade agreements, a topic the three Latin American presidents and Mr. Gutierrez spoke about openly at the forum.

Mr. Gutierrez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe used the event as a platform to reiterate their support for a bilateral free trade agreement, which has been signed by both countries but has hit roadblocks in Congress.   

Chile has these agreements with 57 countries, including the U.S.  Negotiating that pact was an arduous process, but it has benefited both countries since ratification, Mr. Lavados said.

Although it’s too complicated to definitively say which country has benefited more, the agreement has especially helped U.S. exporters, which now have unprecedented access to Chile, Mr. Lavados added.

“The United States economy is about 100 times the size of Chilean economy, but if we consider the path of trade and goods, the increase in exports from U.S. to Chile has been by far larger than the increase in imports coming from Chile to the United States in the past five years,” he said.

Brian Wilson, managing director of Georgia's trade office in Chile, told GlobalAtlanta in a previous interview that the free trade agreement that took effect in January 2004 has been a boon for both countries.

"Since that date, trade between the U.S. and Chile has grown 180 percent, which is a tremendous and successful figure," Mr. Wilson said.

Mr. Gutierrez and free trade proponents in the Commerce Department like Mr. Bastian have used examples like Chile in support of the pending FTAs with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. 

In Colombia, for example, U.S. exporters would have largely tariff-free access to a market of more than 40 million people.  These companies have paid more than a billion dollars in “unnecessary” taxes since the Colombia pact has languished in Congress, Mr. Gutierrez has said. 

Mr. Lavados said he has shared Chile's experiences with his counterparts in other Latin American countries fighting for a pact with the U.S.

Prosperity throughout the region can only help Chile's outwardly focused economy, he said.