Chile’s Global Services industry has grown over 86 percent in the last three years putting Chile as the regional leader in this industry. More than 60 world-class companies have chosen the country for their global delivery centres, centres of excellence or R&D initiatives because of the outstanding pro business environment, talent pool and government support.
Given the growing dynamism of this industry and the success stories of countries such as India and Ireland, in 2000 Chile began promoting foreign investment in high technology, highlighting the political and economic stability of the country, its modern telecommunication infrastructure, and the skills of its human resource. As a result, the global services industry (offshoring) quickly developed until it became one of the most competitive ones in the region, gaining the attention of multinational companies such as General Electric, Evalueserve and Equifax. It is the quality of life and the well trained work force, among others, that make Chile an attractive destination for global services.
Chile’s strengths
Chile stands out as an economically strong country with relatively low inflation. In addition, it has a regulatory system that results in relatively low costs and a short time-frame to begin a new business. Likewise, Chile’s infrastructure and quality of life are considered important factors, which are recognised as higher quality than in neighboring countries. In fact, the business environment in Chile is often described as similar to the one found in the US and Western Europe.
Regarding the cost of business, Chile has salary levels in line with the region’s average, and tax rates lower than those in neighboring countries. Due to strong fundamentals and a well managed public surplus, Chile has shown remarkable strength during the global financial crisis.
As regards Chile’s work force, the quality of its professionals and the country’s commitment to promote specialised training stand out. The government has special training programmes focused on English language and information technologies.
The support given by the government, through the Chilean Economic Development Agency’s (CORFO) InvestChile programme, to those companies that settle in the country includes consultancy services and a range of financial incentives oriented to facilitate the investment decision and implementation. Among these incentives are financial support for the pre-investment studies, co-financing of technological assets, and long-term leasing, along with contributions for personnel training.
Global services
Several companies that settled in countries like India have now chosen Chile to open new service centres. Cases like Equifax, JP Morgan, Capgemini, Evalueserve and General Electric figure among those that discovered the necessary conditions to develop their businesses in Chile.
In August 2009, Equifax opened in Santiago, the capital city, their third technological development centre in the world, from where it develops research and technological solutions for risk evaluation. The Equifax centre in Chile works in collaboration with its centres in the US and India doing research and developing software used in financial analysis.
“From Chile, we offer international companies technological applications related to risk evaluation. This allows our clients to make wiser decisions regarding new business opportunities. With this service, we position Chile as a leader in the field”, states Mario Godoy, the general manager of the Chilean branch.
Likewise, another company that chose Chile as a platform is Evalueserve. This company, one of the biggest KPO players with branches in India and China, was attracted by Chile’s infrastructure, well trained work force, and the government incentives, among other reasons.
Located in the Valparaiso Region on the coast just west of Santiago, Evalueserve provides services to its clients in the US, taking advantage of the similar time zone Chile has with that country. From here it can work in unison with its centres in India providing 24-hour coverage.
“There were different aspects that influenced the decision of establishing an Evalueserve centre in Chile. When we were looking for a Latin American country, we had several options, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Costa Rica, and analysed each one of them. Although we realised that there were cheaper countries than Chile, we chose settling here for various reasons, such as its infrastructure, its low crime rate, the government’s excellent economic policy, and the quality of its labour pool, among others. The support given by the government and InvestChile added an important benefit influencing our decision”, said Mohit Srivastava, Evalueserve Country Manager in Chile.
Srivastava cites the quality of professionals who work in this industry, who are highly qualified and have undergraduate degrees that are in many cases equal to master’s degrees in other countries.
Evalueserve hopes to expand the services it provides. “Our plan is to focus on a new service strategy, creating an integrated platform among our centres. Thus, we expect to triple our operations in Chile, generating job positions for 450 people in the next five years”, concludes Mohit Srivastava.
For more information on CORFO www.investchile.com
