Best TPO from a Developing Country
Chile's TPO, Prochile, helps small and medium-sized enterprises to diversify the range and volume of their exports. Prochile received the 2006 Best TPO from a Developing Country.
Response
Online marketplace
ProChile developed a bilingual online marketplace which “offers information on more than 70,000 foreign importers, virtual company catalogues, documents and information on the full range of exportable goods.”’
International fairs
ProChile sent Chilean companies to international fairs covering a broad spectrum of sectors, such as agriculture, seafood products, textiles, publishing, wood products and audiovisual material. It also conducted joint trade missions of government officials and entrepreneurs.
Targeted campaigns
To improve the value of Chilean food and beverage exports, ProChile carried out campaigns to position firms in foreign markets as reliable suppliers of healthy, top-quality food products. These campaigns went under the name of Flavours of Chile and Wine Tasting and Wine Sampling. Exporters established business contacts with importers, supermarket chains, specialized publications and distribution centres.
Brand Chile
In its efforts to create a new “country brand,” a consensus was formed around Chile’s ability consistently to surprise foreigners and to surpass their expectations in a variety of ways. This led to the brand’s tag line - “Chile: All Ways Surprising.”
Achievements
During its more than 30 years of existence, ProChile has increased the number of export firms and their market destinations. Expert support in major markets was one of ProChile’s key strong points. It operated trade offices in over 35 countries, covering 90% of destinations for Chilean exports. Specialized teams with market expertise ran the offices. Its national network included 13 regional offices.
Export growth over 20 years suggested ProChile’s contribution. In 1987, 3,666 products were exported; in 2005 there were 5,238. Exporting companies rose from 1,400 to 6,880 in the same period. Foreign market destinations also rose in that period, from 120 to 184.