President Bachelet at the Concessions Congress: “Chile holds first place for competitiveness and logistical performance within Latin America”
The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, together with the Public Works Minister, Alberto Undurraga, attended a breakfast meeting at the CasaPiedra Events Center this morning. It was organized by the “Asociación de Concesionarios de Obras de Infraestructura Pública (COPSA)” (the Public Infrastructure Concessions Association) to mark the Fifth National Concessions Congress.
President Bachelet expressed the need to strengthen public-private partnership, because “The Government has a clear vision of this institutional measure, which is so essential for us to drive Chile’s development even higher. So we concur fully with the title, theme and slogan of this seminar, ‘The Concessions System: a successful public policy.'”
She went on to explain how this development mechanism benefits people: “Historically, this joint effort represents an investment of over US$15 billion; it is visible to all, and it has profoundly changed the breadth, diversity and extent of our public works. These are services that make daily life easier for millions of people, by providing highways, high quality tunnels, airports, public transport facilities and reservoirs, which are fundamental to secure regular water supplies”.
The President also described part of the investment plan for concessioned infrastructure when she said: “Since March last year we have already put out to tender concessioned projects totaling nearly US$1 billion. One of the biggest is the extension of the Arturo Merino Benitez Airport, a major project that has created 500,000 direct jobs.” She pointed out that Chile leads the Region in executing public works: “For example, reports issued by the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and the IMD World Competitiveness Center put us in first place for competitiveness and logistical performance within Latin America, better even than some developed countries such as Spain and Portugal. We have the best highways in the Region, the most robust institutions, a stable economy and the highest integrity.”
At the end of her speech, the President praised the private sector’s contribution: “We are convinced that concessions have given us the leverage to make a powerful contribution to development and we want to continue with this type of joint work. Here the saying ‘unity is strength’ carries greater significance. This is our commitment and we will continue to deliver it, confident that many things that unite us, and that legitimate views are characteristic of any open, democratic society.”