Engineering services exports, a pending task

Andrés Jara, Marketing and Business Development Manager

Even though we are at the forefront in copper exports, the country has a debt in the sale abroad of services related to mining. The success achieved as a country and, specifically, by national companies such as Codelco and Antofagasta Minerals, has not been accompanied by the same level of achievements in the generation of technologies and exports of goods and services, such as engineering. According to data compiled by the Association of Engineering Consulting Companies (AIC), engineering services exported in 2020 were the lowest in the last 6 years*.

So what is the reason for the lack of initiatives that promote the shipments of services, or why is there not the necessary state support for programs that promote this leap abroad, even though we are a mining country par excellence? The answer, perhaps we all have a degree of responsibility for these questions not having a clear answer.

For many years, Prochile has been encouraging and supporting the export of services, even creating a specific program for Mining called “International Promotion of Suppliers of Goods and Services for Mining” with a focus on Mexico, Peru, Australia and Canada, which unfortunately was stopped at the beginning of 2019 due to lack of resources.

In Australia, there has been a very successful government initiative called Mets Ignited for several years, whose fundamental role is to strengthen Australia’s reputation as a center of Innovation in Mining, leading the positioning of Australian Equipment, Technologies and Services companies. Unfortunately, we do not have a simile in Chile, but, on a different scale, there is a private initiative called Minnovex, which together with the efforts of companies such as Vantaz, have been supporting the formation of a cluster of companies that intend to internationalize.

Engineering companies are responsible for a certain lethargy in the face of the internationalization of the service we provide, the emergence of a leadership that can break paradigms and join forces with the objective of a goal that mobilizes us is needed.

The support of our clients, national and foreign, as well as that of Chilean companies that are currently internationalizing, will play a strategic role, since their confidence to accompany them with services in their own international initiatives would be an exceptional example for the market.

Perhaps one way is to participate in niche markets. At PA Engineering we have been successful in this strategy, since we have engineering expertise in the production of formaldehyde and resins that are used in the wood panel industry, which has allowed us to develop engineering for plants in Argentina, Venezuela, Germany, Turkey and the United States.

Or perhaps the right strategy would be to generate spaces for clusters of engineering companies that have the conviction that synergistic work can generate better results for all those involved. The key would be to find leadership through, for example, associations such as AIC, Minnovex or a new group.
At PA Engineering we have undertaken the great challenge of internationalization, to our office in the United States, created in 2007, we inaugurated our office in Peru at the end of 2020, and in Australia, a few weeks ago. We are convinced of the capabilities of Chilean engineering and that, just as we can compete successfully with multinational companies in Chile, we can also do so outside our country. I extend an invitation to other service companies so that together we can find spaces for collaboration that allow us to conquer other markets.