SOUTHERN CHILE -- GLOBAL CHALLENGES OUTSIDE OF

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001565 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR WHA/BSC - KMOSS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD ENRG PGOV SOCI CI SUBJECT: SOUTHERN CHILE -- GLOBAL CHALLENGES OUTSIDE OF SANTIAGO REF: SANTIAGO 1404 ¶1. Summary. Southern Chile is known more for its natural beauty -- lakes, volcanoes and rivers -- than for its globally integrated economy. However, it exports everything from timber to salmon to a large part of Chile's manufacturing output. Businesses in the region are closely following the sharp drop in U.S. housing starts. They are keenly aware of the need to diversify exports to minimize an overdependence on one export market. Concepcion is Chile's second largest city and anchors the south as a commercial and educational center. Further south, Valdivia is a product of German immigration with a strong independent streak, but finds itself struggling to take advantage of Chile's web of trade agreements. It is also soon to become the capital of a new region and, by its own estimates, will immediately be Chile's poorest. End Summary. ¶2. Senior Econoff visited Concepcion in the Bio Bio region and Valdivia in the Lakes Region from September 10-14 for outreach to universities, regional government leaders and business groups. In a series of press interviews he also explained a new bilateral scholarship program. As reported reftel, Secretary Spellings visited Chile in August to promote the program for 100 Chileans annually to earn U.S. doctorates in math and science. In a first, this program does not require English as a pre-requisite, offering instead an intense English language course up front. This program offers a unique opportunity for Chileans in the regions, who are less likely to have had a private education that includes a strong English component. However, as is often the case in Chile, communication between Santiago and the regions remains weak. Despite Spellings' efforts in Santiago, not a single person in Concepcion or Valdivia was aware of the new scholarships. Through a half dozen press interviews and individual meetings, the visit made good progress in disseminating information on the new scholarships. The Old Frontier -------------- ¶3. For hundreds of years, the Bio Bio river was the frontier between the Spanish Empire (and later Chile) and the Native American Mapuche Indian civilization. Santiago was founded in 1541 on a rocky island in the middle of a raging river for safety against Mapuche attacks. In the south, Concepcion was founded in 1550 and barely survived the brilliantly-organized Mapuches uprising of November 1599. After studying Spanish battle techniques, the Mapuches effectively ejected Spain/Chile from the south for nearly 300 years. For most of those three centuries (until the Chilean military began to integrate the area in the 1870s),the northern bank of the Bio Bio river on which Concepcion sits was the frontier. Eventually, the 300-year War of the Araunco ended with the inclusion of Mapuche areas into modern Chile. However, resistance is not over. Numerous interlocutors spoke of Mapuche activists burning library books (especially colonial-era books) and summer homes on spiritually important lakes. While the Mapuches may have lost the war, they have not given up entirely. The Countercyclical Region -------------- ¶4. Concepcion is Chile's second city and the capital of the Bio Bio region, which has nearly 2 million inhabitants. With the population of Greater Conception close to 700,000, it is the commercial and educational epicenter of southern Chile. According to the city's chamber of commerce, the region's economy traditionally moves out of cycle with the rest of Chile. In the words of the chamber's president, "I don't know whether we're leading or following, but we're always different." The numbers bear out his observation. The Bio Bio region is growing at a strong 8.4 percent this year, while Chile's national growth has vacillated between four and six percent. The other side of this countercyclical coin is that the unemployment figures in Bio Bio are higher than the national average. While the national unemployment average in Chile is finally returning to pre-Asian Financial Crisis figures of around seven percent, unemployment in the south, is at 8.4 percent. ¶5. The Bio Bio region has seen some local industry, such as coal mining and textiles, fold in the face of foreign competition. However, the region has become adept at exporting its primary resources -- fish, forestry products and agricultural goods. Those three sectors make up 75 percent of the region's exports. The U.S. is the region's main commercial partner, with 25 percent of total exports going there. However, the recent sharp downturn in housing starts in the U.S. has southern Chile worried. According to Concepcion's Chamber of Commerce, forestry product exports to the U.S. are down over 20 percent so far this year. Business leaders expect the drop to grow more severe. Regional business leaders say the housing crisis in the U.S has taught them that the region must further diversify its economy. However, they add that Chile's conservative streak is even more pronounced in the regions and developing new business sectors is much easier said than done. A University Town -------------- ¶6. Concepcion and the Bio Bio region have a strong educational background to draw upon to develop tomorrow's business leaders and sectors. Concepcion alone has a dozen major universities, with nearly 40,000 students. According to faculty, however, the challenges in educating these students are nearly as diverse as they campuses they attend. Professors at several universities spoke of how poorly prepared the students coming out of the public education system are for university work. As opposed to Santiago, where there is a proliferation of private secondary schools, most university students in Concepcion are publicly educated. Faculty say that the majority of them cannot do basic math (algebra level) or consistently read Spanish for comprehension when they enter university. While these students are not technically illiterate, they require at least several semesters of remedial work before they can properly begin their university studies. ¶7. Yet at the same time, Concepcion boasts some of Chile's most advanced research centers. Catholic University of Concepcion has a biotech center that is at the cutting edge of Chile's search for energy independence. The biotech center is working on biofuels based on the wide spectrum of forestry products native to the region. In the traditional May 21 speech to Congress, President Bachelet laid out the importance of biofuels to Chile's economic future. The center's director acknowledged that government-to-government cooperation will be key to Chile's success in this area. He is hopeful the U.S. will enter into a more strategic partnership with Chile on energy. At the university level, Catholic University Concepcion has set up a dual degree system with the University of North Carolina. The center's director is optimistic Chile will make progress on energy independence -- the extensive research being done in Concepcion certainly raises the possibility of success. The South Grows a Region -------------- ¶8. Further south along Chile's coast sits Valdivia, a small city known primarily as a center of German immigration. It also suffered the world's largest recorded earthquake -- in 1960 at 9.5 on Richter scale. The earthquake, ensuing tsunami and massive flooding a month later, caused by rivers SIPDIS previously blocked by the earthquake, destroyed the city. Today, greater Valdivia has about 140,000 inhabitants, with 60,000 of them in the city proper. As of October 1, Valdivia will be the capital of a new Chilean region (the equivalent of a state or province). According to Valdivia's Chamber of Commerce, the new Region de los Rios will immediately be Chile's poorest. The region will have a total population of only 200,000 and should score the lowest nationally in GDP, per capita income and employment. ¶9. On the plus side, the Rios region will have increased influence over a budget that can be more closely tied to local needs. However, the economic challenges will be larger than ever. Much like the Bio Bio region but on a much smaller scale, Valdivia and environs depend on forestry products, agriculture and tourism. The business sector is small, with only 50 members in the Chamber of Commerce. It is clearly not accustomed to thinking internationally, with limited knowledge of the possibilities Chile's web of trade agreements offer. Despite Chile's trade agreements with 56 countries and the forward-leaning business approach seen in Concepcion, in Valdivia the business sector remains decidedly inactive. With vague plans to increase tourism, Valdivia's civic and business leaders seem oblivious to the ubiquitous litter around the city (known in Chile as the Pearl of the South),which certainly does little to make it an attractive tourist destination. Comment -------------- ¶10. It is not surprising that some areas of Chile's south are more successful than others. A large city like Concepcion or the Bio Bio region has the size to develop the industries to tie itself into a bigger market like the U.S. Concepcion has the critical mass of business, academics and government leaders who are all pulling in the same direction. These leaders showed great enthusiasm not only for the new Ph.D. scholarships in the U.S. but also for the value of learning English in general. They are busy pushing the development of Chile's own Semester Abroad program, in which the GOC hopes that every university student will spend at least one semester in an English-speaking country. On the flip side, the housing crisis in the U.S. is driving home for them how international trade offers not only new opportunities but exposes new vulnerabilities too. Smaller cities like Valdivia and the new, poor region it will lead are much further behind in this whole game. As much as Chile has traditionally existed in two parts -- Santiago and the rest of the country -- increasingly the provinces are dividing themselves again between those who are learning to play the global game and those waiting for someone to throw them the ball. URBAN