When Hillary Clinton calls, you drop whatever you are doing and come running. That is what private sector executives and leaders from US business organizations in over 100 countries did for a two-day conference hosted by the State Department in Washington, DC on February 21-22. 

In 2010, Chile placed for the first time amongst the 20 leading recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the world. According to the World Investment Report 2011, released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Chile ranked 19th and third in Latin America behind Brazil and Mexico, both much larger economies than Chile.

And 2011 was another good year for FDI. Through October, FDI inflows to Chile totaled US$13.88 billion, up from US$13.73 billion in the same period of 2010, which was a record year.

On June 22, 2011, the Stolen or Misappropriated Information Technology Law took effect in the state of Washington. The law protects US companies from unfair competition by making it illegal for manufacturers to use pirated hardware or software in the production and commercialization of products sold in the state. The law is designed to specifically target foreign manufacturers that export and sell their products in the United States. Therefore, the law could have an important effect on Chilean exporters.

Florida es la capital mundial de los cruceros. Cerca de 16 millones de personas al año abordan cruceros en uno de los cuatro puertos del estado: Miami-Dade, Everglades, Cañaveral y Tampa Port Authority. Las líneas de cruceros más grandes del mundo incluidas Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland America y Celebrity Cruises zarpan desde Florida hacia el Caribe y otros destinos, con lo que genera US$6.000 millones en ingresos para los proveedores y dan empleo a más de 125.000 personas en el estado.

Florida is the world cruise capital. Some 16 million people a year board cruises in one of the state’s four ports: Miami-Dade, Everglades, Canaveral and Tampa Port Authority. The world’s largest cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Celebrity Cruises sail from Florida to the Caribbean and other destinations, generating US$6 billion in revenues for suppliers and employing over 125,000 people in the state.

Desde que el tratado de libre comercio entre Chile y Estados Unidos entró en vigencia en el 2004, el intercambio comercial entre los dos países ha experimentado un auge. En el período comprendido entre enero y abril de este año, el comercio bilateral total, que incluye las importaciones y exportaciones, alcanzó un récord de US$7.500 millones -lo que se compara con los US$2.200 millones del mismo lapso del 2003- y ha registrado un fuerte repunte después de la crisis económica del 2008.

Since the US-Chile Free Trade Agreement came into force in 2004, trade between the two countries has boomed. In the period between January and April this year, total bilateral trade, including imports and exports, reached a record US$7.5 billion – up from US$2.2 billion in the same period of 2003 - and has rebounded strongly after the economic crisis in 2008.

What do Chilean writer Isabel Allende, actor Cristián de la Fuente, politician and entrepreneur Fernando Flores and economist Sebastián Edwards have in common apart from being successful in their respective fields?

¿Qué tienen en común la escritora chilena Isabel Allende y sus compatriotas el actor Cristián de la Fuente, el político y emprendedor Fernando Flores y el economista Sebastián Edwards además de ser exitosos en sus respectivas áreas?

President Barack Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, spent less than 24 hours in Chile in between visits to Brazil and El Salvador in March, but Chile – in President Obama’s own words a country “at the end of the world” - was not just a stopover on his first official visit to Latin America.

The close relationship between the United States and Chile is based on shared principles of democracy, freedom and entrepreneurship as well as a Free Trade Agreement that came into force in 2004 and has seen bilateral trade more t