With the main objective of generating a national policy to strengthen the pork meat sector, a multisectoral work meeting was held, made up of all the actors involved in increasing pig production efficiency, managing entry to various markets, expanding of the markets, and the creation of instruments that allow this important cluster to benefit, which constitutes the livelihood of thousands of families settled in different regions of the country.
The dialogue table was chaired by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Luis Alberto Castiglioni; the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Moisés Santiago Bertoni; the vice minister of REDIEX, Estefanía Laterza; the Vice Minister of Industry, Ramiro Samaniego; the Vice Minister of Economic Relations and Integration of the National Foreign Ministry, Raúl Cano Ricciardi, and had the active participation of representatives of the following institutions, unions, companies and entities. César Ros and Gilberto Altenhosen, director and president of UPISA, respectively, as well as the general manager of the firm, Ricardo Alonso, participated from the private sector.
Minister Castiglioni pointed out that the installation of the dialogue table tends to develop a public policy specifically in the area of production of the pork industry. “We intend policies and concrete actions that could even lead to a special law, because our great interest is to develop all the potential that the pork industry has in Paraguay,” Minister Castiglioni stressed, in dialogue with the press, before the presence of his colleague from the MAG.
He pointed out that the export potential of the Paraguayan pork industry is 500 million dollars, according to preliminary studies carried out by the Department of Economic Studies of BCP. “If we compare that at the moment we are exporting 12 million dollars, we can already imagine what it is going to mean for our country, for all the clusters that are going to be articulated, and the sectors that are going to benefit, the farms and their supply chains. suppliers etc. It is going to mean a true revolution, and we are going to have a more preferential item, and it could be a star item, like our beef. Today this process begins, with this dialogue table that was prepared in a work of the Vice Ministry of REDIEX, in charge of the Vice Minister Laterza, in conjunction with the entire private sector that is in this area”, he highlighted.
He mentioned that in a short time they hope to have concrete results, and that in fact there are many actions that are being developed parallel to this initiative, such as the work that is being done jointly with the Minister of MAG, the president of SENACSA and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce “to have the Taiwanese Technical Mission as soon as possible, which is going to be a mission that can enable us from a health point of view, so that our industrial meat products can enter the Taiwanese market, which is a market that pays a lot money, and at the same time it will serve as a reference for other markets”.
“This is running parallel to this initiative. Now we are implementing this dialogue table because we intend to give institutionality to all this work, due to the great potential it has for the economic development of our country”, he pointed out.
ITEM THAT GAINS IMPORTANCE
He also said that the great challenge is to find adequate markets for our product, and that by the end of this year, the production capacity of the meat industry will probably double. “We need, along with supplying the national market, which on average, according to the research that was done, consumes 9 kilos of pork per year for each inhabitant, from the foreign market to have that chance of becoming a item that helps development and at the same time, an item that makes grain production efficient. Instead of exporting as commodities, without added value, turning it into meat increases its value ostensibly. So, the great challenge is to look for foreign markets that pay well, and we are going to achieve this with this initiative that we are starting today”, he underlined.
Referring to the pork industry markets, Minister Castiglioni pointed out that the first market that Paraguay accessed was the Russian market, and that later there were some difficulties, but that market is always latent. “Now the second market that we achieved was quite an achievement, and we had to be at UPISA that day, when the first refrigerated trucks to transport our meat to Uruguay left. From Russia to Uruguay we have to go to the East, to Southeast Asia, to other parts of the world”, he added.
Regarding the Taiwanese market, he explained that they have their own production, and also supply from abroad, but since Paraguay enters without a quota and according to its competitive capacity and quality, and has become from being in fifth place as a supplier, to is currently the first supplier in the Taiwanese market, there are many possibilities to access. “I would prefer to go in a positive way, to try to win the first spaces, competing with other suppliers such as the US. The great advantage that we are going to have is that they (Taiwan) pay well, and therefore our producers here are going to have a lot of incentive for a market that pays well”, he said referring to the Taiwanese market.
INCREASE OF INDUSTRIES
MAG Minister Bertoni pointed out that the main pig industries are concentrated in the Departments of Itapúa and Alto Paraná, and that currently, there are two new industries that are being installed in Santa Fe and Katueté. “We are doubling our production, and these industries will be working at the end of the year and the beginning of next, which forces us to be proactive in the search for markets. It is a coordinated and articulated work that the two ministries responsible for production are doing, in this case the MIC and the MAG, in coordination with the private sector, solving these problems that this growing and consolidating industry is having.
He stressed that Paraguay maintains a very important health status, that it is free of African swine fever, and that the farms also manage one of the best pig genetics in South America, and that the appropriate local technology for this industry has been developed. “Which makes us have all the conditions and start replacing our grain exports with animal protein, which would be the first step towards the industrialization that we are looking for. Our pork industry is a modern industry that meets all the health requirements with the highest health standards, which means that we can reach important markets, as now our goal is the Taiwan market. Taking into account that Taiwan consumes around 900 thousand tons of pork per year, of which they produce around 700 thousand tons, and have to resort to importing the rest. That’s where we want to step strong. Assert our good relationship with that country so that we can promote and consolidate our industry”, he stressed.
Regarding grain production, Minister Bertoni pointed out that there is a significant decrease in it. “However, the consumption of the entire industry is guaranteed, and last year to keep the price of chicken meat low, mainly, quantities of corn have been imported, and at the same time grains have also been exported to Brazil. We have a local production and we also have enough raw material in the region, so that the pork, dairy or poultry industry is maintained without supply problems”, he mentioned.
The Vice Minister of REDIEX, Ambassador Estefanía Laterza, said that since the middle of last year they have been working intensively to support the efforts of the pork cluster, with the aim of continuing this work, first of all in strengthening their regarding supply, in terms of local consumption, and on the other hand in what has to do with exports, to preserve those markets that are enabled, and to evaluate other markets.
