Governor Maximiliano Pullaro participated in the XIX Argentine Meeting of River Transport, an event that brought together specialists, businessmen and officials to discuss the future of the Argentine waterway system.
In this edition, under the slogan "Challenges and opportunities of the waterway system", relevant issues such as river-sea connectivity and regional logistics; public port infrastructure and the promotion of river cabotage, among other axes, were discussed.
A productive development model
During the opening of the event, held at the Rosario Stock Exchange, Pullaro said that "in Argentina we will have better levels of equality and development if we look at the productive interior of the country, if we can produce more, sell better" and in that sense he stressed that the meeting "brings together the best of that productive Argentina we want, those of us who learned that with work and effort we can get ahead".
The governor went on to highlight "the power of the Litoral Region, which brings together the mighty Paraná River, and which must also bring together a political strategy that allows us to develop the exploitation of the river, betting on the bidding process for the waterway so that it is not designed from an office in the Federal Capital but is a model of productive development and infrastructure, which is what we need to reduce logistics costs and be more competitive", For this reason, he remarked that he is not only talking about "draught and beaconing but also about road and energy infrastructure to be able to lower the costs of our productive system, of logistics and thus also lower the costs of the products that we have to export".
In addition, Pullaro pointed to the state of the national roads, noting that they are "in a terrible state", for which he called for "a tender programme to repair, patch up and build new roads because the congestion of our roads is getting worse and worse". And he recalled that Santa Fe "does not take a single cent from exports and from the retentions applied by the National State, which we ask to be eliminated. However, from the Province we are making historic investments so that our roads are in good condition, with the aim that the production leaves the ports in the best conditions".
The event was also attended by the Minister of Productive Development, Gustavo Puccini; the Mayor of Rosario, Pablo Javkin; the President of the Rosario Stock Exchange, Miguel Simioni; the Director of the Rosario Regional Development Institute, Juan Carlos Venesia; national, provincial and municipal authorities; national and provincial legislators; representatives of Chambers, Associations and Trade Unions, among others.
A federal view
Puccini, meanwhile, recalled that Santa Fe "has the output of the production of 70% of all grains that leave Argentina", which is why from the Government of the Province "we promote a logistics and comprehensive agenda that we must work between the provinces and the private sector" and added that the agenda of the Waterway "is extremely important for Santa Fe" and called for "a federal look for the productive sector".
Likewise, the minister acknowledged that Santa Fe "from the first minute that the Nation said it was putting the waterway out to tender, it called on all sectors so that the ports from Arroyo Seco to Reconquista have a complementary look linked to the waterway because we have the added value generated by our industries, the SMEs and that they see in maritime transport the possibility of exporting. This will only be possible if this tender allows it to be competitive, efficient and modern, which is why we proposed that the provinces have control over the tender so that there are works that allow development".
Finally, Simioni stressed that the event "once again ratifies the shared commitment of our region and institutions to river and maritime development", to which he added that they hope "that the bidding process for the Argentine section of the Trunk Waterway will be successful and competitive because we need it to be more modern, efficient and always respecting the environment".
