President Luis Lacalle Pou led the opening ceremony of the UPM port terminal on October 5 and stressed that the investment shows that Uruguay respects contracts and laws, seeks productive development and is an appropriate place for future business due to its stability. politics. The new service, which cost 280 million dollars, will receive 100 ships a year and six trains a day.
The president was accompanied by the secretary and deputy secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado and Rodrigo Ferrés, respectively; the transport ministers, José Luis Falero; Industry, Omar Paganini; Interior, Luis Alberto Heber; Economy, Azucena Arbeleche; Work, Pablo Mieres; Livestock, Fernando Mattos; Defending; Javier Garcia; Tourism, Tabaré Viera, and Housing, Irene Moreira; the mayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cosse, and the president of UPM, Jussi Pesonen, among other government authorities and the private sector.
Lacalle Pou mentioned some milestones that made international investment possible, such as the forest law, the port law, the investment protection treaty with Finland and the new UPM plant in the Centenario town, which will be inaugurated shortly.
“Continuity is national policies. Today we celebrate continuity by straightening paths and changing some things in a civilized negotiation with UPM”, he claimed.
On the occasion, the President of the Republic celebrated that investments continue to arrive in the country and considered that it is an achievement based on long-term policies, respect for contracts and laws, but, mainly, the quality of Uruguayan society. Likewise, he appreciated that national companies prepare to develop this type of works and that thousands of Uruguayan workers adapt to new technologies.
“This moment speaks of the best Uruguay, of what happened and on which we have to stop to continue building”, stressed Lacalle Pou, who pointed out the importance of continuing with the industrial process and preparing the population, as happens at the UTEC in Fray Bentos, in which a virtuous circle was created between business and education.
“There will always be very genuine political and ideological differences, but there is a national synthesis, which is what makes us great, and in such a turbulent region, Uruguay once again becomes a place for investments to arrive and more opportunities to be generated,” he asserted.
For his part, Minister Falero stressed that it is a special day, because it represents the image that the country offers and demonstrates how it converts investments into State policies.
“It marks a real possibility of development in the generation of opportunities for our people. For this to happen, it is not enough to give continuity to the State policy, but it is necessary that abroad they see us as an attractive country to land these investments. This is what happened here.” said the hierarch, who valued the growth of national companies to respond to UPM’s demands.
“In Uruguay things are possible. The State clearly marked international policy by being open. We hope to finish the process with a railway project to adapt the network to the new technologies that will be incorporated into the country, which will provide development in other railway branches. It is an opportunity that Uruguay did not miss, because it wants to develop and show that it has open doors for growth”, assured.
Finally, Jussi Pesonen considered that this work is key to the growth of Uruguay and the result of a path of more than three decades, based on trust, stability and predictability.
“Uruguay is an ideal partner, because it is serious, reliable, with clear rules and legal frameworks, with political and economic stability, support for investments and strong development of national companies that increased the number of contracts in this work by ten times”expressed the president of UPM.
Characteristics of the logistics platform
The construction of the terminal in the port of Montevideo, with direct access by rail from the plant in the town of Centenario, required an investment of 280 million dollars and transformed it into the only deepwater port in the Río de la Plata with these conditions. .
The service was designed and built based on the best available techniques, in accordance with European and national regulations, with the same industrial design criteria in all branches of engineering (mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, automation, etc.). It includes a large covered warehouse of 51,000 square meters, with access roads for the railway, a control room, logistics spaces and offices.
It was built in 37 months, with a workforce of more than 550 workers and the participation of 90 suppliers, including contractors. The storage capacity is 2 million tons of cellulose per year. The scope of the concession includes design, engineering, construction, operation and maintenance of the terminal for pulp, chemical products and other inputs related to forestry production for a period of 50 years. The port area is owned by the State and will be managed by a specialized operator.
