Seminar on financing imports from Chile

To make known the financing available for importing capital goods, consumer durable, and engineering services from Chile, CAF and the Chilean embassy in Venezuela have organized an important seminar to be held on March 14 in Hotel Intercontinental Guayana in Puerto Ordaz.

CAF is an international financial institution with headquarters in Caracas. Its main shareholders are the five countries of the Andean region, together with other nations of Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago.

In an effort to stimulate Chilean non-traditional exports, in October last year the government of that country made a US$40 million line of credit available to CAF to finance imports by member countries from the southern nation.

Depending on the amount involved in each operation, CAF will grant funds from the line directly to Andean businesses or through financial institutions which maintain relations with the Corporation in the five member countries. The funds granted will be used to import goods and services of wholly Chilean origin -- or with a percentage of imported raw materials or components -- including capital goods and consumer durables, and to finance projects under turnkey contracts. The companies established in Chile may be of totally national or mixed capital, which significantly expands the opportunities for regional trade.

The seminar was organized to publicize details of the agreement and explain the operating mechanism for accessing the line of credit. The speakers will be senior executives from CAF, Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO) and the Chilean embassy, together with business leaders from that country.

CORFO is the CAF counterpart in Chile because of its competence in financial and technology cooperation and its specialization in development work.

In compliance with its institutional mission, CAF gives priority to regional integration which covers promotion of trade, investments and joint business, and has an extensive range of products and financial services to meet the needs of its clients in the public and private sectors, which will be explained in the seminar.