President Bachelet: “We are here to stand with all of those who work hard and move our country forward.”
Early this morning, President Michelle Bachelet, accompanied by the Economy, Development and Tourism Minister, Luis Felipe Céspedes, the Region Governor of Los Lagos, Leonardo de la Prida, and the Mayor of Puerto Montt, Gervoy Paredes, met in the Salón Austral of Hotel Gran Pacífico with local micro and small business owners who are beneficiaries of Business and Economic Development Programs.
During the meeting, President Bachelet spoke with men and women, who work in such diverse fields as cuisine, tourism, fishing, shell fishing and outdoor markets, to learn more about their plans and difficulties. The business people at the event have received resources from the Technical Cooperation Service (Sercotec), the Economic Development Agency (Corfo) and state-owned bank BancoEstado.
“These are all instruments specifically designed to support projects that help make the region’s economy more dynamic. In order to better support them, we have increased the number of resources available to them and have provided technical assistance, guidance, marketing and other tools,” the President explained.
She offered as an example the Outdoor Markets Modernization Program, which was allocated one billion pesos in 2014, 1.67 billion pesos this year, and will continue to expand until it reaches 2.1 billion pesos. This has allowed more market traders to benefit. In the case of the Los Lagos Region, the number of beneficiaries has doubled.
President Bachelet said that these measures are part of the Productivity, Innovation and Growth Agenda. She also highlighted other steps, such as the installation of a network of Business Development Centers. In the case of Los Lagos, centers are being set up in Puerto Montt, Osorno and Chaitén this year. Next year one will be built in Castro. The goal is to have one center in each province.
“Behind all of this, we are looking to support business development. We want to reach places where there are ideas and a desire to succeed, not just in the capital city of each region, but also in the provinces, so that all of the municipalities of the region can be reached. It is not only a matter of decentralizing from Santiago to Puerto Montt. It is also a matter of reaching the interior parts of the regions, and decentralizing and supporting local efforts. That is why we want to install these four Business Centers in the provinces,” she explained.
She added that the objective is “for the government to contribute to strengthening and diversifying the economy. We need to allocate resources to entrepreneurs who offer their talent and efforts, rewarding them with incentives. We want successful experiences in tourism development to multiply throughout the country. We want to see new products and services along with new ways of selling. We want the regions of Chile to decide where the resources should go, what the priorities should be and what we should continue to strengthen.”
In closing, President Bachelet emphasized, “The most important thing is that between all of us, the government and private enterprise, local residents and tourists, we can strengthen our economy each day, diversifying activities and creating new businesses. The government is here to support all of those who work hard and move the country forward. We are here to protect families in times of financial turbulence. We know what our job is. And here we have been given a series of inputs that will require us to bring work home.”