MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Boric unveils strategy to speed up construction of Bioceanic Road Corridor

“We are going to strengthen and improve the public infrastructure of the corridor,” Boric pledged

Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font Monday unveiled his country's plan to speed up the construction of the Bioceanic Road Corridor, a 2,400 km highway linking northern Chile with Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. The initiative includes 22 infrastructure projects to enhance roads, customs, police checkpoints, and ports like Iquique, Mejillones, and Antofagasta.

The corridor aims to cut transport times by up to 10 days, connecting ports in southern Brazil with those of northern Chile, crossing Mato Grosso do Sul, the Paraguayan Chaco, and the Argentine provinces of Salta and Jujuy.

“It is good news because it is a real and concrete integration,” Boric said during a La Moneda presidential palace ceremony.

According to the Chilean government, this corridor represents a significant improvement over other routes to boost trade with Asia-Pacific countries. The program will be one of the main topics during Boric's official trip to Brazil next week.

”We are going to strengthen and improve the public infrastructure of the corridor, we are going to build an inspection site for the inspection and control of cargo closer to the border (...) and we are going to have greater presence and operational capacity of the Carabineros and the PDI (Investigative Police) at the border crossings,“ Boric also pointed out after receiving a repport from commission he built a year ago to monitor these developments regarding the corridor, which was launched in 2015. The document included strategies and concrete measures to speed up work.

”Integration cannot be only discursive between like-minded Presidencies, it has to bring concrete benefits for our peoples. It cannot be only summits and photos; it has to be works that bring benefits for our peoples,“ he added. The Bioceanic Corridor Action Plan consists of ”deeds, not words for the integration of Chile's economy,“ he also explained.

”Initiatives that increase the competitiveness of the ports, the improvement of the port of Antofagasta, the inclusion of Tocopilla, the habilitation of a new crane in the port of Iquique, which will improve its cargo capacity and, of course, its competitiveness with other ports,” Boric also noted.