• 3 min de lectura
• 3 min de lectura
The President of the Republic of Chile, José Antonio Kast, highlighted the impact of naval construction during a visit to the Asenav shipyard, located in the commune of Valdivia, Los Ríos Region.
Kast arrived at the naval facility accompanied by various authorities, including the Mayor of Valdivia, Carla Amtmann, the Minister of Defense, Fernando Barros, as well as parliamentarians and representatives from five communes that have shipyards in the country.
"Thanks also to the Minister of Defense for taking the issue of continuous naval construction as something relevant for our nation. We are meeting the deadlines to have the plan, but I think we are well on our way," said Kast.
"There are 4,000 kilometers of coastline. We are a maritime country, we are a tricontinental country. Many times we do not look at Chile's tricontinentality and, for a long time, we have lived with our backs to the sea (…), but today we want to face the sea, we want Chile to look at the sea again as a power and for that border to be a source of employment, development, innovation, and sovereignty," he stated.
Kast stressed that "naval construction is a strategic sector for Chile, and as I say, for its regions. The ships, the barges created in the shipyards, large shipyards like this one or smaller ones like in Calbuco, but which also collaborate in the country's development to have critical assets that not only serve for the defense of our seas and borders, but are also absolutely necessary for fishing, aquaculture, transport, and connectivity of extreme zones."
"We have to build in Valparaíso, in Bio Bio, in Los Ríos, in Los Lagos, and in Magallanes (…). The proposal is ambitious and, at the same time, simple. Ships that Chile needs, which incorporate technical aspects, will be ships that, if we build them here, mean knowledge, employment," he added.
"Naval construction goes far beyond infrastructure and the need to protect sovereignty; it also generates technological development and specialized knowledge. In fact, here in Valdivia, there is a Naval Engineering program (…) and we have to promote that if we have everything here. Here is one of the most modern projects that is already on its way to Magallanes (Magellan Explorer), which is a tourist cruise ship characterized by being a hybrid between electric and diesel, and it comes from here. That is cutting-edge technology. We see the tugboats they have built here of different sizes," added the President.
Kast underlined that naval construction is a driver for employment, as it not only generates direct employment but also two to three indirect jobs that benefit local businesses.
"Naval construction, as also pointed out, requires planning and continuity, thinking about the next five, ten, or 15 years. That is our challenge. Both the Minister of Defense and the cabinet are thinking about this. We need to boost naval construction in Chile, we have to become a development hub for naval construction, to serve ships that come to the southern zone and find the possibility of repairs and different alternatives to stay here. We have institutional stability, we have maritime experience, we have specialized workers, we have shipyards, we have ports, we have universities, we have a world-class aquaculture industry, we have the Strait of Magellan which is the gateway, the natural passage for maritime trade, and we are the gateway to Antarctica," he expressed.
