Chile Forum

You'll find the best source simply by talking with the commercial attaché in the Chilean embassy in New Delhi.

Are you looking for the rough copper pieces? How large of quanities?

sorry, that had indian spam astroturfing all over it.

But why is that? Why are Indians coming here, to this forum, just to spam it? And why do some Chinese the same thing? Why don't all these English-speaking Asians (and there are really really lots of them in over-populated Hong-Kong and Singapore, and India, and Malaysia, and some other places) come here to ask questions with regards to their possible relocation to Chile? What, the land is not cheaper, or maybe the air and water is not cleaner here in Chile?..

In a AP article today, it is reported that a state owned Chinese company is working on a 3B copper mining project in Afghanistan. All sorts of bid rigging and corruption is involved in the awarding of the contract. A Canadian mining company official is quoted as saying that they have evidence that their bid was shown to the Chinese officials before all bids were officially submitted.

Two things strike me as evident. (1), the Chinese will do anything to further their ambitions and (2)Afghanistan will protect the Chinese operation in the future beside skiming off the top. Try this on for size, Obama Administration!!!!!!

All I can say, is "Chile, watch your back when dealing with the Chinese".

Stang

Well, first China is whole different show. What we call corruption and bribery, is just the way business is done in China. For example, presenting gifts to officials is considered being polite. Copying someone else's work is considered an honor. Having inside contacts is considered being smart.

We get contacted every so often by some random Chinese firm looking for representation in Chile in buying or selling something. I make a point of explaining to them that we have contacts in China, and most of them are never heard from again. Legit companies in China, would not be scarred away by that.

As for our spammers, you don't go to an online forum like this one if you are seriously looking to buy commercial shipments of copper in bulk. You contact the copper companies sales department. Really, would you do millions of dollars of business with some random company someone suggested to you on a forum?

Besides, they had the classic new user tag team with a couple of post asking an off the wall commercial related question. It was then followed up conveniently by a another new user with the answer and offers of business contact information.

As for all the people in the East looking to relocate, not our market. We get contacted constantly by people from Pakistan, Indian, Bangledesh, Russia. Most are human traffickers calling themselves "travel agencies" looking to dump dozens of mostly poor and uneducated people in to Chile with no money. Many just bluntly ask us how much to produce false immigration papers for dozens of laborers at a time, and how to send the money to us. Beyond the shear ethics and legalities of dumping a bunch of people with no money in Chile that can not speak the language, get a job, or be integrated in to Chilean society in the next couple of generations; it is simply not our business. With 10%+ unemployment in Chile, do you think that is really ethical to be bringing families from Asia to compete with Chileans in the lowest end of the labor market where unemployment is likely more around 30% or better?

We are not an immigration mill or coyotes. There are plenty of those guys in Santiago that submit applications by the hundreds (mostly for Peruvians and Bolivians). We handle private individual investors, one family application at a time, and immigration is a very very small part of our business. Our average client invest $200,000+ U.S. in the first year or two in Chile, and we do immigration applications as a very small step to coordinating their larger projects in Chile (e.g. starting companies, buying land, buying cars ). There is nothing in it for us but trouble. We are fully willing to assist Indians and Chinese and whomever from eastern countries, but they need to have the funds to do more than just starve in Chile. For example, we have Indian clients, but they are very wealthy Indian clients.

My question mark was not about those "poor and uneducated" families from Asia, who indeed would compete with Chileans in the lowest end of the labor market. No. Rather, about those very well educated, and yes, "private individual investors" (if you like to call them so). The people with money. There are people with money in Asia, definitely. And the fact that they are not interested in Chile, and are not joining this board, is surprising me.

Well there are not even many Asian descent USA/CAN/UK/EU/AUSSIE gringos here for that matter.

I think it is a marketing thing and incorrect perceptions that Chileans might be racist. Saw a scrawled swastika the other day and no it was not the ancient eastern symbolism kind.

I don't even think it is that so much.

When we lived in China, people would ask my wife where she was from. The 'Chile' answer had everyone's eyes crossed immediately. No one knew where Chile was. Hell, if I ask most even well educated Americans and Europeans where Chile is, chances are they would at least hesitate before they could place it on a map. It is simply not known. I am sure, when immigrating to another country comes to mind for most Asians and middle-easterners, Chile is not the first country they would think of either. It is likly not even the first place most people in Latin America would think of.

I kind of like selling the exclusivity of Chile. How long that will last, who knows?