CPI delivers proposals on infrastructure policies to candidates for governor

Statement from the Infrastructure Policy Council

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

The idea that future regional governors, who will be elected next October, adopt measures that prioritize infrastructure projects in key areas that are duly financed is the basis of the proposal in the document “Infrastructure for the development of the regions,” prepared by the Infrastructure Policy Council (CPI). This document was recently sent to the candidates during the next few weeks.

The discussion for the preparation of the document was attended by, among others, Mahmud Aleuy and Juan Manuel Masferrer, former Undersecretaries of Regional Development; Juan Francisco Galli, former Undersecretary of the Interior in the administration of Sebastián Piñera; Sergio Granados, former Director of Budgets and Egon Montecinos, former Mayor of the Los Ríos Region, in addition to academics and CPI advisors.

The report proposes to provide general guidelines for the design of public policies to strengthen infrastructure in the areas of major logistics, water resources, energy, digital and cities. In addition, changes are proposed in the areas of planning, in the way projects are evaluated, in multi-level coordination and governance, in the reinforcement of professional teams and potential sources of financing.

From an institutional perspective, the CPI document indicates that the regions have significant potential to influence the definition of infrastructure projects required by their territories in accordance with how they view their potential development. In fact, there is a considerable number of regional plans, policies and programmes that are formulated, approved and executed by other bodies of the central administration of the State (ministries and services) with little participation from the regional governments. These should be assumed by the specialized units of the Regional Governments.

In this context, the CPI maintains that a key challenge is for Regional Governments ( GORE ) to have the capacity to formulate and articulate regional infrastructure policies and plans, taking into account the country's strategic projects, and thus enhance the development of each territory according to its potential, without losing sight of the guidelines emanating from the central government. To do so, they must be provided with the appropriate personnel and the necessary technical resources.

Some of the main lines of action suggested by the CPI in the various areas are:

Logistics Infrastructure

The development of logistics, understood as the infrastructure that connects territories and exchange centers, thus contributing to facilitating the flow of goods and services for both domestic trade and export and import, is key to the economy. Among the proposed measures is the creation of a logistics infrastructure table led by the governor, leading to a “rapid” definition of strategic projects for the region. Likewise, the infrastructure requirements for the different modes (ports, roads, railways, modal exchange centers, others) associated with the different productive sectors present in each territory must be planned.

Ports should be seen as an opportunity for regional development where synergies between the different productive sectors can be exploited. The same applies to the creation of cargo transfer zones (modal exchange centres) or regulation zones that allow the joint and integrated operation of the different modes of transport.

Freight rail transport should also be encouraged, as this alternative is underused in Chile and should be given greater consideration. Furthermore, it is vital to consider airport infrastructure in this area as a relevant element in freight transport in the different regions.

In this regard, border crossings represent an opportunity to generate international connectivity that will allow the country to become the gateway to the Asia-Pacific.

Infrastructure for water resources

Water must be considered a fundamental element for the survival of ecosystems, for human consumption and for productive development. This should be expressed in a deployment of key policies to promote investments. Thus, it is proposed that regional governments take on the design of strategies to optimize the availability of water resources in the basins and create specialized units that are responsible for identifying water management measures.

It is also proposed to influence the planning of reservoirs and desalination plants, along with short-term projects (water infiltration), as well as nature-based solutions. In terms of governance, it is suggested that the governor preside over the regional advisory council.

Special consideration must be given to the APR. The country cannot continue to rely on almost 2 million people being supplied by tanker trucks.

Best cities

A high percentage of Chileans live in cities, so the aspiration is for these to be fair, sustainable and prosperous, for which they must have services and public spaces according to the aspirations of the community and the possibilities of providing them.

The proposal is to promote the development of integrated and efficient public transport systems; expand access to public and private services such as health, education, commerce and entertainment; and create public spaces such as parks, squares, sports and cultural centres that are quality and inclusive. It is noted that investments in infrastructure for resilience with sustainable buildings, use of renewable energy and efficient water management should be encouraged.

“Infrastructure planning should be integrated with land use, taking advantage of the opportunity provided by projects such as the metro and other transport projects for housing development, and also tending towards waste reduction and recycling,” the report adds.

Digital infrastructure

Access to information and communication technologies is essential for the country's development. In this regard, the CPI states that the broadband network must be expanded and a robust connection through antennas must be provided as key measures to implement smart cities. Digital innovation and the implementation of data centers in Chile must also be encouraged, taking advantage of the country's advantages in the region. It is essential to increase the use of digital services available today in order to influence an increase in the offer of proposals in this field. The fact that the Internet is a "national good for public use" enables regional governments to encourage its use through specific policies.

Infrastructure for energy

In the energy field, there is a need to develop clean energy sources - solar, wind, waste-based - as a complement to the central interconnected system; to modernize the transmission and distribution network with the aim of providing continuity to the service. All this, in parallel with the strengthening of the electrical network with new works, to improve capacity, promote the modernization of existing networks and give greater importance to resilience to new climatic phenomena. Regional governments should be key players in solution proposals to advance the electrification of the country, the generation and use of clean energy and the transmission of these energies from generation centers to consumption centers. The work associated with the Central Government in these aspects should be a very important contribution to the decarbonization of Chile, to compliance with international treaties and to a quality environment.

Service Infrastructure

Service infrastructures are those that, while essential for the functioning of society, can generate negative impacts on the environment and the quality of life of the people around them. This can give rise to social and environmental conflicts. These include penitentiary centres and other facilities that are sensitive to citizen sentiment. To address these projects, regional governments should advance in the planning of their territories, enabling places of preferential use, so that the projects are technically and economically feasible and minimise the disruptive effects that these types of initiatives can generate. In addition, it is necessary that the service infrastructure offers opportunities for compensation, reparations, employment and support for local and community development initiatives.

Sources of financing

To implement key projects requires having the resources to make them happen. In this regard, the CPI proposes some actions open to Regional Governments.

Some sources to consider:

The Transantiago mirror law , whose purpose is to finance transport, connectivity and regional development initiatives. The investments that could be made with these resources would be those related to development projects, general infrastructure, public transport, modernization and others, which could involve more than one region and more than one budgetary period, taking into account their social impact or profitability.

The Law on Shared Urban Financing, which in general terms allows for medium- or long-term contractual relationships between municipalities and SERVIUs and private parties, focusing on public infrastructure projects located in urban areas. This instrument must be improved so that it includes the GORE as one of its agents, provides more guarantees to the private sector, defines a portfolio of attractive projects along with other process improvements. To this end, the CPI proposes working on a proposal for legal modification that obtains the sponsorship of the executive and that can be processed in Parliament as soon as possible, increasing the sources of private financing for the development of public infrastructure, in this case, urban.

Concessions Law : the regions are in a position to propose to the Ministry of Public Works projects that can be carried out through the concessions system. To this end, they should present their initiatives to the Concessions Council, as any private entity can do, hoping that their initiatives will be considered of public interest. The identification and formulation of projects for this purpose requires a reinforcement of the technical capacities of the GORE, which we are sure is an aspiration of all the candidates.

Resources from mining royalties : properly using resources from mining royalties to promote infrastructure projects, plans and programs of regional relevance and interest that encourage productive activities is another line of work that will require teams and support with greater technical density.

Governance

It is suggested that regional governments take advantage of their capacities to create a Regional Infrastructure Commission that will have the task of coordinating the identification of infrastructure projects relevant to the region, in due coordination with planning bodies at the national level. It is suggested that this entity have a vocation to look at the development of the regions in the long term, for which it should be as transversal as possible.

The full publication can be seen here