The Ministry of Economy released the monthly report of the Sustainable Projects Management Office (GPS), which indicates that the sum of investment initiatives as of December 2021 totaled US$78,284 million; which implies a projection of a workforce for more than 182 thousand work terms for the next 5 years.
Minister Lucas Palacios referred to the matter and highlighted the work carried out by the GPS around the support given to the processing that investors must carry out. The same authority explains that thanks to the implementation of a series of measures, a reduction in project review times has been achieved, which in its opinion will be key to attracting new investment in the different territories.
Regarding the reality of the Antofagasta region, which during the month of December registered an investment amount of US$ 20,260 million – followed by the Metropolitan region – it was the same Seremi of Economy, Ronie Navarrete, who highlighted the coordination that is carried out through different services so that “sectoral permits can be processed as soon as possible, since this not only shortens the development time of the projects, but also ensures prompt hiring for the jobs that open at the time of construction, which in five years we estimate more than 27 thousand, and the start-up of the different initiatives; but it also presents a scenario of certainty and agility for investments to materialize, always in tune with the corresponding legislation”.
Among the highlights of the report, Seremi himself commented that the energy area, which amounts to around US$10,045 million, has the largest regional investment over the mining and infrastructure sectors. While, on the employment side, the commune of Antofagasta agglomerates the largest record of direct employment, over 5,400 jobs, when the projects begin operation.
Among the main milestones highlighted in the report is the start of construction of the Horizonte Wind Farm with an investment of US$700 million, and a projection of 600 jobs under construction; while around the start of operation, the Chuquicamata Underground Mine appears with an investment of US$ 4,758 million, allowing about 2,961 jobs in this operational stage.
future challenges
The Seremi Navarrete, commented that, although the signs around the investment at the moment are positive, the way in which this is maintained is through the signs that the coming administration communicates.
“We trust that the roadmap of the new authorities will be around continuing to deliver certainties in different legislative, environmental, tax frameworks and deepening the commercial internationalization strategy.”
Finally, the regional authority expressed that it hopes that the different supports that have been given to SMEs will continue to be maintained, to make them more competitive, through support with programs by Sercotec and digitalization with various instruments and initiatives carried out by Corfo.
