Talcahuano (Chile): how City Port cooperation also served for reconstruction

AIVP – In this interview we will focus on the subject of governance, particularly in the Chilean context, and on the legislation that created the “Port-City Councils”. There have been many innovations in Talcahuano, and other Chilean port cities, that could be of interest to our members, including the functioning of the Talcahuano Logistics Community (Comlog). Interview with Rodrigo MONSALVE RIQUELME, General Manager and Guacolda VARGAS CRUZ, Director for Development and Sustainability The EMPRESA PORTUARIA TALCAHUANO SAN VICENTE is a member of AIVP since 2016 Involving all the stakeholders AIVP – How do you represent all the actors, including civil society, in your system of governance? Rodrigo MONSALVE RIQUELME, General Manager - Law 19.542 defined the creation of the Port-City Councils, with state representatives at regional level from various important areas (local authorities, regional governments and port authorities). In 2014, the Transport Ministry asked for the article to be applied, since at that time no corresponding regulation had yet been defined. We started to work with the Port-City Council with good results for local integration, especially with the Municipality. In 2018 the regulation was published; it integrated new actors and defined that the chairman was the Regional Intendente. The Port-City Council meets every three months, with the participation of other regional authorities for different sectors, to agree and follow up on matters of public interest related with promoting the harmonic development of the city and its ports. This Council is complemented by a Port Committee for the Coordination of Public Services, which has been operating since 2014, involving the technical bodies that can resolve potential conflicts within the port between the logistical actors and the authorities (health, marine, customs, etc.). Finally, there is also a regional level working group, with public and private actors, to solve general problems affecting logistics. All these bodies are complemented by the Comlog, which consists exclusively of private entities, to ensure that problems are solved quite quickly. Getting the Comlog up and running was not easy, but little by little we have generated a relationship of trust and cooperation. It was essential for the port company to be a neutral actor, in order to bring together companies representing different links in the logistics chain that may be competing against one another. Today, Comlog functions very successfully through three lines of work: connectivity, processes and integration with the community. Today's great challenge is to define its continuity, since after an initial phase we will draw back from the chairmanship of the community, which must be done in future by an actor from the private sector. We are working with the community to define a new system; all the options are open, from creating a not-for-profit organisation to continuing as a work group.In terms of relations with civil society, the commission responsible for relations with the city's residents is continuing to work on training, through the education of both port workers and secondary school pupils. We are also working to generate knowledge about the port and port activities, as well as maintaining channels of communication against possible future conflicts or negative externalities, to anticipate ways of solving them. Presentation of the « Reporte de Sostenibilidad integrado 2020 » to the community © Empresa Portuaria Talcahuano San Vicente To establish a balance between the port uses and the urban uses AIVP – One of the essential aspects for AIVP is the governance of shared spaces.How do you manage to establish a balance between the port uses and the urban uses of the territory, and how do you work on urban planning jointly with the mayor's office? Rodrigo MONSALVE RIQUELME – This activity is very dependent on the good relations that we as an institution have always had with the mayors, regardless of their political colour, which shows that Talcahuano as a municipality understands the importance of port activities. The geography of the city also helps, since our biggest port, San Vicente, is in a mainly industrial zone. Many of the local residents have family members who work in the port or associated activities, so they understand what port activities involve. When the Chilean Port Company was created in 1960, San Vicente was a fishing community, sited partly where the port is today. A compensation programme was set up for the fishermen, so today we have a good historical relationship with them, despite natural tensions resulting from the growth of both economic activities. The port of Talcahuano as such is on the central waterfront of the city, not far from the main square. It is therefore very much integrated with the city, but because it is a small port, handling no more than one million tons per year, it generates few negative externalities. © Empresa Portuaria Talcahuano San Vicente The main connectivity project of recent years is the Interport Route, conceived to connect the ports without causing congestion in the city. We are working with the Public Works Ministry to connect the Interport Route with San Vicente, generating a highway outside the city and segregating truck traffic from light vehicles. This will be positive for…