Yesterday, in the city of Los Angeles in the Bío Bío region, a business meeting organized by Irade took place.
Around noon, a panel called “How do we move forward?” was held, which included the participation of the Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau; the businessman Italo Zunino; the director of Irade, Mónica Álvarez; and the president of CMPC companies, Luis Felipe Gazitúa.
That portion of the day had the objective of analyzing collaboration between the public and private sectors “to reverse the slowdown that Chile is facing.”
There, the president of CMPC alluded to some of the reasons that led the company to develop mega projects outside Chile. Without going any further, last May they began a process to evaluate a large investment in pulp in Brazil.
On that occasion, when asked about the matter, Minister Grau said that although it was normal for companies to seek to invest in other territories, in Chile there were conditions for the development of the forestry industry.
“It is normal for certain companies to look for options to invest in other places. What matters is the addition and subtraction, that is, how many investments by Chilean companies occur in other countries and how many investments from other countries occur here. That is the sum that has to be positive,” said the authority.
Now, in the Irade activity panel, the president of CMPC explained that, in his opinion, “It is impossible to do projects in Chile.”
Diario Financiero detailed that Gazitúa commented that it is perceived that in other Latin American countries, “which have a lower level of development than ours,” Public authorities are “convinced that private industry is a factor of development.”
“And that has been lost in Chile”he accused.
In the same context, he exemplified that “a pulp factory is an investment of around US$4,000 million. You understand that No one in their right mind is going to start an investment like that when the project could take 14 years. “That makes the project unprofitable.”
Grau, for his part, stated that the problems with the so-called “permissology” in Chile date back years, which do not exactly have to do with something specific from this Government.
“Our idea is not to move to a system with a lower standard, but rather a better system that is demanding, but that substantially reduces times”said the head of Economy, quoted by Diario Financiero.
Last April, during the Enade (National Business Meeting), one of the topics analyzed was the low level of productivity present in the national economy.
“Permitology” also took up the debate, as it was considered key to attracting investment, taking better advantage of the so-called “green shoots” and, hand in hand, increasing production.
In line with what was stated by Gazitúa, from the business community the president of Sofofa, Rosario Navarro, indicated on April 24 that in 2023 “570 investment projects, the lowest figure since 2012″.
“I think that’s a sign of exhaustion perhaps,” he mentioned, also indirectly alluding to “permissology.”
It is worth remembering, finally, that Chile fell eight places in the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranking of the best countries globally to attract investments.
Although the country continues to hold the podium at the Latin American level, an expert from the think tank pointed out that the Government of President Gabriel Boric “has promoted policies that are not favorable to business.”
