Chile needs national policy on the issue, salmon farming summit concludes — MercoPress

Chile needs national policy on salmon farming, summit concludes

Frei stressed that Chilean salmon farming has grown without any state subsidies

Chile needs a “national vision” for salmon farming, said Arturo Clément, president of SalmonChile, in his closing remarks at the “Salmon Summit 2024: Driving Chilean salmon farming until 2050” event, which brought together businessmen, union leaders and other members of society linked to the campaign.

Clemente also pointed out that “we need to look towards aquaculture in 2050, where everyone in this country can create value and have permanent policies so that Chile can truly feed the world.” He added: “In addition to what we salmon farmers have done, the country needs to modernize completely.”

“I think the state needs to be redesigned to meet the challenges presented here, especially what former Senator Gilardi has said. In other words, we need a state that is in step with the rest of the country to really lead Chile towards development,” Clemente insisted.

“The Norwegian government is modern and keeps pace with the private sector, or even ahead of it,” the businessman added, referring to another leader in the world salmon industry. “That’s the big difference. Today, our environmental and production indicators are better than theirs, but our costs are higher due to the complexity of mutual regulations. That’s the difference. A country that has the knowledge and keeps pace with the private sector,” he continued.

Former Defense Minister Vivian Blanlot also told the event that it was necessary to “abandon the prejudices and notions about private enterprise that exist in certain political circles.”

“I believe it is time for all of us to look at the potential of some of the sectors that can really deliver growth, and if we don’t put aside our prejudices, we will not be able to move forward,” she stressed.

“There must be a national vision for the future of salmon farming. In this regard, the promotion and support of the State and the government are fundamental. Moreover, in order to continue to consolidate the path opened up by Chile’s trade 30 years ago and to restore growth of at least 4%, a sector that is already Chile’s second largest export will require new export impetus and a doubling of service exports. Especially since this sector is now the second largest exporter of goods and an important consumer of high-tech services related to sustainability, which are themselves exportable sectors,” agrees Rodrigo Yáñez, secretary general of the Society for the Development of the Manufacturing Industry (Sofofa), an industry association of companies and unions in the Chilean industrial sector.

Also present at the meeting was former President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, who stressed that “the salmon industry has been the engine of economic growth in southern Chile over the past 30 years.”

He also noted that each achievement was “achieved without any subsidies from the state. It was achieved by the joint efforts of the regions, the businessmen, the workers, the institutions, everybody. Not a penny from the state. That’s the most important thing… Do we stop it? Do we stop it? Do we complicate it? If what it needs is to double in the next 30 years. It has the capacity to do it. It has the manpower to do it. It has the investment to do it.”