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A Strategic Partnership bUSiness CHILE THE VOICE OF THE CHILEAN-AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE N°269, OCTOBER 2010 California Dreaming: A Strategic Partnership SPECIAL REPORT TRADE TESTIMONIAL POWER GENERATION Mining Safety: Call Now, Pay Later Clear Rules for What Lies Beneath? Energy Investment AMCHAM GLOBAL SPONSORS PLATINUM GOLD SILVER bUSiness CHILE SPONSORS GOLD SILVER BRONZE 4 October 2010 bUSiness CHILE Editorial The California of South America California – it’s the place where dreams come true, to investing in Chile in the future. new beginnings are made and the sun always shines. This has become a major concern for foreign inves- From its vineyards to its susceptibility to earthquakes tment in Chile, and regulatory uncertainty is never a and entrepreneurial spirit, Chile is in many ways the good thing. Chile badly needs these investments, not California of South America. So it’s not surprising that just as part of its current economic recovery but as President Piñera’s visit there in September was ce- part of a longer term plan for growth which will create lebrated as a meeting of two strategic partners with a better and more prosperous country for all Chileans. much to learn from each other. But investors will be reluctant to risk millions of dollars The Chile-California Strategic Partnership signed in if they fear projects co uld be delayed, modified, or 2008, with the support of AmCham, laid the foundation even cancelled. for this visit, and AmCham was proud to participate in Chile has earned an excellent reputation due to the the trade mission led by President Piñera. guarantees it offers to foreign investors. Now, as Chile The Ministers of Economy, Energy, Agriculture approaches its goal of becoming a developed country, and Culture all took teams of business leaders with it must work hard to maintain these assurances while them and came back with signed agreements that at the same time improving environmental and safety should generate increased business opportunities standards in the energy and mining industries. This is down the road. exactly what California has done well through coope- Energy is a key area where California is in the van- ration between the public and private sectors. guard of new technologies and regulations. As dis- Companies and consumers in the West Coast state cussed in the Spotlight, California’s experience with have shared the cost of stricter regulations in areas nuclear power and renewable energy could help Chile like carbon emissions, which will also have to happen meet its energy needs without risking shortages in the to some degree in Chile. But California has shown that future or polluting the environment. world-class environmental standards and an attractive After its electricity crisis of 2000-2001, California environment for business can coexist. has managed to find a balance between attracting At AmCham we congratulate President Piñera and new investments and environmental protection. This his team on a productive visit to California and are is not an easy task as Chile has discovered as it tries committed to working hard to maximize the benefits to reconcile its need for low-cost energy supplies with of this trip for trade and entrepreneurship. Both Chile environmental concerns, especially regarding coal- and California have much to gain from this strategic fired generation projects. partnership in areas ranging from energy to culture In the last few years, a number of major investments and agriculture. in power generation projects have run into approval But for Chile to realize its dream of becoming a problems; some in the early stages of their develop- developed country in the next decade, it must main- ment, others when the project is well advanced. Many tain its outstanding reputation for foreign investment. of these problems, though not all, have been related to At AmCham we believe this can be achieved through environmental objections. But the result gives the im- public-private cooperation and with the support of pression of an uneven playing field, which may cause partners like California. From Napa Valley to the Casa- investors to think twice before making a commitment blanca Valley, the West really is the Best! BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE PRESIDENT DIRECTORS Luis H. Siles, IBM de Chile AmCham Mision Statement Ricardo García, Seguros Interamericana ALICO Andres Bianchi, Bci CHAIR TRADE & INTERNATIONAL To promote free trade and investment Pamela Camus, American Airlines BUSINESS COMMITTEE between Chile an the United States, and to be VICEPRESINDENT; CO CHAIR CORPORATE AFFAIRS an effective voice for the membership while Charles Kimber, Celulosa Arauco y CO CHAIR CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ADVISORY COUNCIL facilitating related services. Constitución S. A. Fernando Concha, Citigroup Chile CO CHAIR FINANCE AND ADR COMMITTEE Rubén Covarrubias, Rector, TREASURER; CHAIR EDITORIAL COMMITEE Universidad Mayor Gonzalo Iglesias, Coca-Cola de Chile S.A. Kathleen Barclay, Asesorías KCB Alfredo Ergas, Enersis Javier Irarrazabal, The Walt Disney Company CO CHAIR FINANCE AND ADR COMMITTEE SECRETARY; CHAIR LEGAL COMMITEE Chile Michael Grasty, Grasty Quintana Majlis & Cía. CHAIR LABOR AND HUMAN CAPITAL COMMITTEE Mauricio Ramos, VTR Global Com PAST PRESIDENT Mitch Larsen, Embajada de los E.E.U.U. Karen Poniachik, Mateo Budinich, Insape EX OFFICIO Directora de Empresas GENERAL MANAGER Luis Marcelo Moncau, Microsoft Chile Jaime Bazán, AmCham Chile Enrique Ostalé, D&S www.businesschile.cl bUSiness CHILE October 2010 5 TRADE TESTIMONIAL Call Now, Pay Later The Chilean wireless services provider Tiaxa is hoping to attract venture capital from California to export its innovative micro-financing idea for mobile transactions to new markets in developing countries. By Aaron Nelsen he Chilean wireless services users is the future of mobile phone te- “We want to take this idea to the provider Tiaxa is hoping to chnology. The company already has a world,” Valdés said. “We’ve already attract venture capital from contract with Spanish firm Telefónica, been very successful in Latin America, California to export its inno- which owns Movistar, covering its 135 but we want to take it to other emerging T vative micro-financing idea for million prepaid users in Latin America, markets and for that we need capital.” mobile transactions to new markets in but Tiaxa has its sights set a little higher. To meet its ambitious expansion developing countries. Including Chile, Tiaxa currently ope- goals, Tiaxa is looking to investors in Ever been in a bind and desperately rates in five countries in the region the United States to raise between needed to place a call or send a text, through its agreement with Telefónica US$15 million and US$20 million in but your prepaid phone had insufficient and hopes to be up and running in eight venture capital. funds? If you aren’t familiar with this si- more by April 2011. Valdés recently traveled to California’s tuation, what usually happens next is Silicon Valley with President Sebastián a feverish dash to the nearest corner Piñera, Economy Minister, Juan Andrés store to top up. Fontaine, and a dozen other up and But for Latin American clients of coming businesses as part of a trade mobile phone operator Movistar, the mission designed to showcase Chilean next call is as easy as dialing. innovation and entrepreneurship. “We’ll spot the next phone call or “Silicon Valley is unique in that it com- the next ringtone and, the next time the bines venture money, academics and user tops up, we’ll recover that money,” so much knowledge about how to grow said Felipe Valdés, founder of Tiaxa, a a company outside its regional market,” Chile-based company which provides Valdés said. “It’s extremely valuable to billing and charging systems for wire- be connected in Silicon Valley – in the less operators. tech business it’s almost a must.” Tiaxa has patented a new system The Fontaine commission’s tour of that lets prepaid users with zero balan- Berkeley and Stanford was eye-ope- ce do a few more things before running ning, Valdés said. In addition to Tiaxa, out. Chilean professionals from the IT, bio- One of the services Tiaxa provides tech, cleantech and conservation sec- mobile operators is to stop clients with tors put on their best faces to lure in- no credit from making calls, but now it vestment to Chile. The group met with lends money to these subscribers so renowned professors, researchers and they can keep talking. fellow entrepreneurs, and each team Valdés and Olav Carlsen, chief finan- had 20 minutes to make an impression cial officer of Tiaxa, believe the ability Felipe Valdés, on around a dozen venture capitalists. to extend credit to millions of prepaid CEO of Tiaxa. “[The trip] was a great surprise 6 October 2010 bUSiness CHILE and exceeded my expectations,” said sactions and we saw that many of them but with our service nothing happens.” Valdés. “The government is doing failed because of insufficient funds,” Tiaxa also gives operators the flexi- a great job through their Start-Up Valdés said. “Then we came up with bility to offer new and innovative plans Chile program to help us think globa- the idea of financing transactions for including services like texting, email lly, access seasoned tech talent and the user, and we underwrite the loans and photos. These plans represent address the world market.” with third parties, possibly banks or the greatest revenue growth for mobile Tiaxa was founded in 2000 with other institutions.” phone operators today, but it’s hard for US$6 million in venture capital, and To make this possible Tiaxa uses them to charge for different services, went through several business model made-in-Chile technology connected so Tiaxa’s software does it for them. permutations before finally settling on to the operator’s system that notices “We allow the operator to offer com- its current model.
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