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Chile Turns Food Exports Into Soft Power at Bangkok Business Summit 2026
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BANGKOK — 28 May 2026, Chile opened the Chile-ASEAN Business Summit 2026 in Bangkok this week, bringing together Chilean exporters, importers, retailers, distributors and food industry executives in one of its largest trade engagement initiatives in Thailand and Southeast Asia to date.
Key facts
- BANGKOK — 28 May 2026, Chile opened the Chile-ASEAN Business Summit 2026 in Bangkok this week, bringing together Chilean exporters, importers, retailers, distributors and food industry executives in one of its largest trade engagement
- The summit builds on the inaugural Chile-ASEAN Business Meeting in 2025, which brought together 76 importers from six countries and generated immediate business projections worth US$6.4 million.
- In 2025, Thailand ranked as the 20th-largest destination for Chilean exports globally, with exports valued at approximately US$596 million.
- Trade between Chile and ASEAN reached approximately US$5.17 billion in 2025, while Chilean non-mining exports to the bloc rose to nearly US$986 million
- Thailand’s Role in Chile’s ASEAN Strategy
- Food exports alone totalled US$571 million, more than double the level recorded a decade earlier.
Summary
Organised by ProChile, the trade promotion agency under Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the five-day programme includes business meetings, trade networking events, retail market visits and participation in THAIFEX-Anuga Asia, one of Asia’s largest food and beverage exhibitions.
The summit, which runs from 26 to 30 May, is part of Chile’s broader strategy to strengthen commercial partnerships with Thailand and Southeast Asia, where demand for imported premium food products continues to grow.