May 13
12:30
2024
Print news
The first objective is to achieve the authorization of the Pircas Negras pass and then “seduce” Chile about the competitive advantages of the Rioja pass. “It is key to get the Córdoba business community to support us,” said Minister Bordagaray.
The Rioja Government aims to seal its ties with the province of Córdoba as a strategic ally to revive and strengthen the ambitious Bioceanic Corridor project.
In this framework, La Rioja holds working meetings with authorities from different organizations in the Mediterranean province with the aim of taking the first step, which is to achieve the authorization of the Pircas Negras Pass.
«We are working hard, not only on integration with Chile but also on strengthening relations towards the central corridor of Argentina, which is the productive muscle of the country and which is looking for alternative ways to get its products to the Pacific Ocean and in that La Rioja has a privileged position,” the Minister of Transportation, Ismael Bordagaray, said on Riojavirtual Radio.
The head of the transportation portfolio said that although the Pircas Negras Pass is passable today, “it is not yet enabled and we have to fight to ensure that this year or next year we have it enabled for transit.” «This is also understood by the people of Córdoba who have accompanied us in this request. This (NdR: the Bioceanic Corridor) is an important medium-term alternative for the province and we must begin to take steps so that this is activated and can be realized,” he stated.
Bordagaray maintained that “the key is to show Chile that the productive heart of Argentina has to leave through Pircas Negras because we are 600 meters lower than the rest of the passes, because it does not freeze throughout the year and because it is 150 kilometers long.” except from the city of Córdoba to Copiapó. “It is a way that provides competitive advantages when it comes to logistics,” he stressed.
For the Riojan official, “it is key to get the Córdoba business community to support us and that is what we went looking for these days and we had good responses to be able to tell Chile that beyond the passage of Christ the Redeemer (Mendoza) and San Francisco (Catamarca) ), La Rioja has to take a complementary step that would allow cargo transportation not to stop at any time of the year because we have a constant flow.
Bordagaray said that Governor Ricardo Quintela “is committed to working and seeing how we can finish the 25 kilometers that we have left, but first we have to get it enabled and then take it as a priority route for cargo transportation.” «It has been shown that a complementary step is necessary. Starting in May, the rest of the crossings are closed for two or three days and that complicates and harms the flow of transport to Chile and this would be a very important alternative route,” he added.
At this point, Bordagaray said that there is resistance from some provinces, including Catamarca, to enabling the Pircas Negras Pass and advancing the Bioceanic Corridor project.
Finally, he closed: «We are trying to build a lobby system with the Córdoba private sector and with the Córdoba government, so that they understand that La Rioja is a fundamental and indispensable pedestrian route to get their products to the Pacific. “We have competitive advantages and we have to show them.”
comments
