Sustainable development

Ismael Maturana and his company Tecnoseal is one of 20 companies benefiting from the Emerge Programme

In 2004, Chilean entrepreneur Ismael Maturana started Tecnoseal, a small company that manufactures and maintains hydraulic and pneumatic components for machinery.

With the help of a micro-loan from Chilean government organisation FOSIS, Ismael was able to grow his business. By 2006, he had more than 30 clients, invested in new machinery and created three new jobs in Antofagasta, in the north of Chile, where he is based.

Then his business faced a new challenge. To become a supplier to the mining industry, he needed to take the next step up. Ismael had the capacity and expertise to do this, but he needed the money and a clear business plan to succeed.

And that is where Anglo American Chile comes in.

In 2007, Anglo American Chile's new small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development project, the Emerge Programme, invested $30,000 in Ismael's business and provided him with hands-on management and business planning support.

Tecnoseal is one of 20 companies that is benefiting from Emerge, which has been inspired by Anglo Zimele, our successful SME development programme in South Africa, but tailored to meet the specific social and economic needs of Chile.

It was through the SEAT process - where Anglo American operations talk to local stakeholders about their perceptions of the company and its impact on their communities - that our Chilean operations first realised the potential for a small business development programme.

To support business development in the poorest sectors of the communities around their operations, Anglo Chile also formed a new alliance with non-profit organisation (NPO) Fondo Esperanza, which provides micro-credit for more than 10,000 clients in Chile using the Nobel-prize winning Yunus method of community banking.

Between now and 2010, it has agreed to extend its activities to communities around our Chilean operations, making small business loans available to 6,000 entrepreneurs living near Las Tortolas, Chagres, El Soldado, Mantoverde and Mantos Blancos.