Ministry of Public Works

Jessica López Saffie's portrait
Contact information

Jessica López Saffie

PUBLIC WORKS MINISTER

Jessica López Saffie holds a Degree in Business Administration and Economics from the Universidad de Chile. She served as president of Banco Estado, executive president of the Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Servicios Sanitarios (National Association of Sanitation Services Companies) and acting director of the board for Banco Itaú CorpBanca.

She has 40 years of experience in executive and senior management positions. She has worked as a counsellor at Comunidad Mujer, a consultant and an executive coach. She is also a board member of Fundación Foro Educativo and TIGRA.

Undersecretaries

José Herrera Chavarría's portrait

José Herrera Chavarría

PUBLIC WORKS UNDERSECRETARY

Undersecretary Herrera holds an industrial engineering degree from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile, a diploma in project evaluation from the Pontificia Universidad Católica, and a postgraduate degree in competitiveness and clusters from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. He is currently in the process of obtaining his doctorate degree from the Universidad Alberto Hurtado with a thesis linked to the problem of climate change.

He was member of the board of the Universidad de Chile Mining Operations Research Center from 2008 to 2010, and researcher and lecturer in the Universidad Central de Chile Mining Development Program from 2010 to 2013.

During 2021, he served as senior advisor for projects and climate change at the SYGroup company.

From June 2014 to September 2021, he worked as an executive at the National Mining Corporation (ENAMI), where he took on the role of Modernization Project Manager, managing together with Development and Innovation Management and project managers. From January 2011 to May 2014, he served as head of the Investment Attraction Unit at the Foreign Investment Committee (now InvestChile), and as a mining investment executive.

In 2014, he was responsible for the First Multisectoral International Investment Forum, which involved more than 100 companies and projects. During 2013, he had an international consultancy position in Ecuador -with the respective authorizations- whose purpose was to inform a group of communities from different parts of the country about the benefits of foreign investment for the development of mining.

Between 2008 and 2010, he served as executive director of the Strategic Council of the Chilean Mining Cluster, a public-private initiative whose mission was to improve the environmental conditions for investment in innovation in the mining industry. Between 2007 and 2008, he served as national director of economic development for World Vision Chile. In addition, between 2006 and 2007, he served as advisor to the Mining Undersecretary. From 1996 to 2006, he was a partner and employee of the Labor Economics Program (PET), a public-private institute for socio-economic studies and social intervention.

He is the author of several publications on economic issues, the most relevant being his contributions to “Informe Final: Hacia Un Chile Más Justo: Trabajo, Salario, competitividad y Equidad Social” (Final Report: Towards a Fairer Chile: Labor, Salary, Competitiveness, and Social Equity) (2008), and the following specialized publications: “Crédito a la Microempresa en Chile: Una Evaluación Cualitativa: 1991-2001” (Microenterprise Credit in Chile: A Qualitative Evaluation: 1991-2001) (2003), financed by the Ford Foundation; and “Microempresa: Nuevas Respuestas para Antiguas Preguntas” (Microenterprise: New Answers to Old Questions) (2006), also financed by the Ford Foundation.