An unprecedented activity took place in the city of Puerto Montt, where the port companies of Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes held the first meeting of the Association of Ports of the Southern Zone of Chilean Patagonia with Regional Governors, managing to bring together in a single space, and for the first time since they assumed their respective positions, to the governors of the three southernmost regions of the country to specifically address issues related to the Southern Macro Zone.
Puerto Montt.- The conference, in which the Council of Public Companies of Chile also participated, sought to reach and sign strategic cooperation agreements between Regional Governments and Port Companies, with a supra-regional vision, which will allow resources to be invested in various projects. presented by these public companies and that will directly benefit the connectivity of the Macro Austral Zone and the port infrastructure between Los Lagos and Magallanes, which will favor not only the transit of imports and exports, but also the tourist flow of the industry. of Cruises.
The regional governor of Los Lagos, Patricio Vallespín, valued the meeting by pointing out that “the southern south of Chile must have a strategic vision associated with ports, because they are companies that are important for our territory. We have a whole future that, beyond the political-administrative limits, we must begin to work together with a shared vision where, by the way, connectivity is fundamental, but also the productive boost that ports can give, and we believe that this first meeting where we want to sign a future work agreement to continue looking, not at the Region of Los Lagos and Empormontt as an independent entity, different from Aysén, Chacabuco or Magallanes, with its port, but as a territorial unit that looks to the future with an eye comprehensive”.
The port companies Empormontt, Emporcha and Epaustral, from Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes respectively, concentrate around 63% of the movement of the national port industry, which explains the relevance of having strategic management alliances between companies, but also with the regional governments, who, with the current Budget Law, can transfer resources for investment in infrastructure and other projects.
Julian Goñi, president of the Association of Ports of the Austral Zone and president of the board of directors of Empormontt, stressed that the industry has “a challenge in improving port infrastructure, for many years the resources that should have been invested in the port companies of Puerto Montt, Aysén and Magallanes. The concessions, which never worked at the end of the day, what they did was deteriorate this condition, and what President Boric’s government is doing is reinvigorating and taking forward these challenges. We have a challenge in terms of cabotage, 63% of the cabotage that is developed in the country is done in this region, that is why interconnection is so important, because what happens in Punta Arenas, affects what happens in Puerto Montt and affects What happens in Chacabuco, and what we do in Puerto Montt will also affect it.”
According to Goñi, if in Puerto Montt “we manage to have an Extraport, a ZAO called the Mandatory Activity Zone, which allows us to receive and also receive the trucks that are going to come from Chiloé to the Puerto Montt area, we are contributing to this development, so we are very happy, very happy, we are going to sign an agreement and we hope that this translates into the set of initiatives that we want to develop.”
In this first meeting of the Association of Ports of the Southern Zone of Chilean Patagonia with Regional Governors, the regional governors Patricio Vallespin, from Los Lagos, and Jorge Flies from Magallanes, were present, as well as the regional governor of Aysén, Andrea Masías; the president of the Council of Public Companies, CEP, Paulina Soriano; the presidents of the boards of directors of Empormontt, Julian Goñi, of Emporcha, Luis Runin, and of Epaustral, Gabriel Aldoney, who participated electronically for health reasons; Representatives of the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works were also present.
This first day of work between the Public Port Industry and the Regional Governments of the Macro Austral Zone of Chile will have a second edition in the city of Punta Arenas, where the progress and expansion of the first agreements reached in Puerto Montt will be evaluated. which generates great expectations and good omens for the development of the regions and the industry.
