MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile is a 'natural partner' for London and the UK, said Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor is scheduled to meet with Chilean business leaders including the Minister of Economy Luis Cespedes and Central bank president Rodrigo Montes.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Jeffrey Mountevans, is leading a business delegation to Chile focused on strengthening the UK’s relationship with Chile and ensure that London and the UK remain its partner of choice for financial and professional services.

 The Lord Mayor, acting as ambassador for the UK’s financial and professional services, is scheduled to meet with senior members of the government and business leaders including the Minister of the Economy Luis Cespedes and the President of the Central Bank Rodrigo Montes.

The Lord Mayor has already attended Expomin in Santiago, considered one of the world's mining industry leading exhibitions. Mining is a sector where the UK and Chile already work very closely together, with export opportunities in excess of £1.1bn over the next 5 years. The Lord Mayor is exploring ways the City of London and Chile can do more in this area together and share London’s experience of raising finance for complex projects.

Speaking ahead of his trip, Lord Mayor Mountevans said that the City of London has an excellent relationship with Chile which has developed strongly in recent years.

“As Latin America’s top ranked country in the World Bank’s ease of doing business survey, Chile is a natural partner for the UK.

”There are several key areas I will be exploring on this visit, firstly I will explore ways in which UK professional and financial services companies can work with Chile in the mining, energy and public infrastructure sectors.

“Secondly I will discuss with your business leaders and politicians, the advantages of listing in London and looking to the City for project finance. We are unique as a financial centre, with access to several time zones and the London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s most international capital markets, home to almost 3,100 companies from more than 70 countries around the world.

”London’s position at the heart of the global financial community is one of the reasons that so many international companies choose to join our markets. Many of the world’s leading investment houses and financial institutions are based here and London’s professional investors are known for their outward-looking approach, offering companies from around the world access to a deep and wide pool of investment capital“.

Finally Lord Mayor Mountevans pointed out that the London Stock Exchange’s alternative investment market continues to attract mining development stage companies and those emerging from the exploration focused markets oversea.

”It also has a history of helping to facilitate the growth of Chilean companies including two of Chile’s most high profile companies – Banco de Chile and Antofagasta.

“I hope this visit will lead to even more collaboration between us and encourage more Chilean companies to look to London and strengthen our relationship”.

The UK is the sixth largest foreign investor in Chile and the country is the UK’s second largest export destination in South America despite having only the sixth largest population.

Universities are actively seeking collaboration in research and teacher and student exchanges. The UK has attracted one third of all Masters and PhD candidates studying abroad on a Chilean government grant scheme over the last 6 years.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London represents City businesses and helps the City Corporation advise the Government of the day on what is needed to help the financial services sector to function well. The Lord Mayor frequently travels to represent the City; and travels overseas with the status of a Cabinet Minister.

The Lord Mayor meets several international Heads of Government and Business each month to discuss financial services, often in conjunction with senior City business representatives.