MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguayan President reshuffles Industry Ministry

Peña also signed into law a bill regarding MSMEs

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Tuesday reshuffled his country's Industry and Commerce Ministry (MIC) by appointing Businessman Marco Riquelme as the new Deputy Minister of Industry, given his vision of a more industrial nation matching that of the head of State. “It is a dream that we have been sharing from an industrial family and as part of the guild. The idea is to join my efforts to make this dream come true in the shortest possible time”, said Riquelme.

Despite the stir, Gustavo Giménez will remain as Deputy Minister of MSMEs. He announced that the Government's priority was to strengthen the sector through the promotion of access to funding as well as to new markets.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Maluff, who previously served as Deputy Minister of the Imports and Exports Network (Rediex), will now be in charge of Trade to provide greater transparency to the Paraguayan market while cutting down logistics costs so that the private sector can enter the world.

Javier Viveros, in turn, will pick up the Rediex to “make the country more dynamic so that it can continue to grow.”

They will all serve under Minister Javier Giménez, who confirmed the appointments after meeting with Peña.

The President also signed into law Tuesday the bill regarding Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, to foster their development at a national level. The MIC's initiative seeks to provide concrete tools for the sector, it was explained. It provides for a series of advantages such as the creation of a unified database of formalized micro-enterprises, in addition to promoting the simplification of procedures, and the reduction of costs, among others.