In order to analyze the proposal to implement an Agricultural Special Economic Zone (ZEE) in Ñuble, union leaders from the construction, commerce and agriculture sectors of the region met with the head of the Regional Government’s Division of Development and Industry, Raúl Súnico, where they learned about the work model presented by the North American consulting firm DGA Group, with experience in advising on the application of this type of instrument in various lagging areas of the planet.
The meeting was attended by Carlos González, president of the Ñuble Farmers Association; Ricardo Salman, president of the Chilean Chamber of Construction (CChC) Ñuble; and Alejandro Lama, president of the Chillán Chamber of Commerce; as well as the director of Didepro of the Municipality of Chillán, Renato Segura.
Javier De Iruarrizaga, director of the special economic zones area of DGA Group, contextualized that, based on the interest of the unions and Didepro, to promote agricultural development and improve the income and employment indicators of the region, the consultancy presented a work proposal that aims to generate “an instance of coordination between the public and private sectors, so that, together, they try to get out of the bad indicators and exploit its agricultural profile with the incredible potential that it has, not only agricultural, but it can be a tourist and cultural power, which is totally underexploited.”
The professional explained that, “the proposed strategy is to create an instance based on a committee or an economic development agency. Today there is something under the umbrella of the Regional Government, but the idea is to modify its constitution, in which the public sector, the private sector, with representatives of the unions and the municipalities participate.” Along these lines, he highlighted that “the most relevant umbrella would be the Regional Government, which is also the source of resources to finance this.”
“We need to analyze what pains exist in the region to understand how to confront them and how to generate public policies to move forward. So, once we have this preliminary report, we can put it together with this new institutionality to work towards quick victories, which is what we want to address in the first six months,” said De Iruarrizaga.
Expectations
For his part, Alejandro Lama stressed that “what we are doing is supporting an idea that gives us the hope of being able to strengthen our region, taking as an example what has been done in other parts of the world, where these SEZs have been implemented, which, ultimately, consists of defining a coordinated strategy to strengthen these areas according to the wealth they possess.”
The trade leader stated that “the idea is how we are capable of implementing an agricultural development project that will allow our region to get out of the situation it is in, which will involve more employment and a demand for goods and services that will positively impact all economic sectors. So how do we make our region bigger? By uniting the wills of the public and private worlds; and with this study, defining where we should focus, how we should invest and how we develop the region.”
Ricardo Salman also stated that “the creation of an SEZ in Ñuble represents a great opportunity to positively transform our region. The implementation of this Zone will not only enhance our available resources, but will also establish a solid and effective institutional structure to properly manage and direct investments.”
Salman added that “it is important to understand that it is not enough to have resources; it is necessary to know how, when and where to invest them to maximize their impact on the economic and productive development of Ñuble. In this sense, we see positively the creation of a working group dedicated to the strategic orientation of these resources, with the support of an international consultancy with vast experience and success in multiple countries.”
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