“We are seeing a historic increase in the competitiveness of the sector, higher prices have been achieved in different markets, where the 27% increase in the value of blueberry exports stands out; 2% in plum shipments; 9.5% in nectarines; 2.34% in table grapes and 17% in avocados.” This is how the Chilean Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, described the progress of the 23/24 season of fruit exports, which according to ODEPA data, reached 5,025 million dollars FOB between September 2023 and March 2024, which is equivalent to an increase of 4.24% in the exported value and a 0.45% increase in the exported volume, which is equivalent to 1.71 million tons.

All this, within the framework of a new session of the Agro-Export Council, where the Agro-Export Competitiveness Agenda and the challenges of the 2024-2025 season were also analyzed. As presented on the occasion, where the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Ignacia Fernández, participated; representatives of the Chilean agro-export sector; the ambassador of Japan in Chile ITO Takako and representatives of the embassies of the United States, the European Union and China who were recognized for their contribution to agro-export development.

In general terms, this increase in both value and tons shows that there has been an increase in the competitiveness of the sector. This was explained by the national director of ODEPA, Andrea García, who pointed out that “within the framework of the advisory council we have worked to identify the main gaps and, in that context, we have designed four subcommittees that address these main issues and the main one is competitiveness commission that has worked on formulating a strategic plan that addresses the construction of a country image (…) We are also working on health openings to be able to provide a greater breadth of destination markets, which allows us to build markets that are more resilient in "We expand the opportunities for each of our products."

Another aspect to highlight is that, having already completed peach and apricot exports, they registered significant growth between the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, which is explained mainly by the recent opening of the Chinese market to these products. . “This was an agreement that was signed during the presidential tour to China in October 2023, which demonstrates the government's commitment to the agricultural sector, and the results of the successful tour to China,” Valenzuela added.

For the president of Frutas de Chile, Iván Marambio, these data show that “we have a year in general terms in which we see a takeoff, we believe so, we are going to grow significantly again. Regarding fruit, we are having a good season like we did not have many years ago and we are very satisfied and we want to continue contributing from our sector, fruit growing, to the growth of the country."

For his part, the president of Fedefruta, Víctor Catán, pointed out that “we must highlight the importance of fruit growing for the development of the country. We have said that fruit growing is the engine of rural development, therefore, you as business partners are our partners, you are our allies and we want that, in the future, we continue to have a very open relationship and we can materialize some decisions that are pending with some Embassies and we are ready to bring the best fruit to their towns.”

Finally, Minister Valenzuela emphasized that the government is committed to increasing the diversification of the destinations of our exports and increasing the competitiveness of the agricultural export sector. An example of this, Valenzuela noted, is the modernization agreement with the European Union, the recent closing of negotiations with the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the negotiations with the United Arab Emirates and South Korea, along which is added to the prompt start of negotiations to modernize the agreement with India. “All this is evidence that we are convinced that it will be very beneficial for the Chilean export sector,” concluded the Secretary of State.