Progreso del corredor bioceánico en América del Sur.
Megaprojects The infrastructure of the bioceanic corridor is advancing at maximum speed to interconnect with a network of roads and bridges to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay; and competes with the Panama Canal to transport goods in both directions between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in South America.
The four countries have coordinated efforts to accelerate the construction of roads and bridges over more than 2,290 kilometers to connect the ports of Coquimbo in Chile with Porto Alegre in Brazil. The corridor will pass through eight border points and is expected to be completed by 2026.
The work initiated with The Asción Declaration, signed by the four countries in 2015, has an estimated cost of $10 billion, according to projections from those involved.
With this ambitious project, the partners aim to capture up to 40% of the current flow through the Panama Canal, which South American countries are forced to use to transport their goods on interoceanic roads.
The Paraguayan government, the smallest of the countries involved in the project, hopes to reap benefits by reducing the transportation costs of its soybeans.
«Paraguay is the fourth-largest soybean exporter in the world. For soybeans to reach the Pacific Ocean, they must pass through the Panama Canal. Once the new route is ready, economies are expected to benefit the entire production sector with approximately a 25% reduction in logistics costs,» projects the Paraguayan government.
How much support for the presidents?
A few days ago, the presidents of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and Paraguay, Santiago Peña, took advantage of their meeting with Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi to advance agreements to facilitate operations on the bioceanic corridor.
The governments consider the infrastructure as a «key to strengthening» because it is «a project that will improve connectivity and energize regional trade,» according to a statement from the Paraguayan presidency.
The work is considered «strategic» as it opens an outlet in the Pacific Ocean for Atlantic countries aiming for Asian markets. For Chile, the route facilitates container movement across the Atlantic Ocean.
Additionally, it will boost the market for products and stimulate the balance of trade among regional partners, as agreed by Presidents Boric and Peña.
The Chilean government is also strategically advancing to complete its part in the bioceanic corridor. In recent days, ministers of economy, foreign affairs, transportation, telecommunications, and finance have conducted an evaluation day regarding the project’s progress and «action plan for the next stages.»
«Today we have finalized the main measures of an action plan that will accelerate the proper functioning of the bioceanic road corridor, a key project for regional integration and economic development,» said Chilean Minister of Economy Nicolás Grau.
Transportation chief Juan Carlos Muñoz believes that the opening of this route presents significant opportunities to «connect agricultural potential from Argentina and Paraguay to our ports in northern Chile,» leading the Buric Administration to prioritize this project.
Authorities have stated that the project will promote Chile as «the gateway for all food exports and, at the same time, position us as a reliable partner, a key ally for our inhabitants in the South American continent.»
Long-term growth in the southern cone would promote and what challenges need to be overcome?
The four governments involved in this project are expected to support their growth and enhance development in the regions where the network of roads intersects with strategic production points.
However, there are still challenges in updating customs systems, both to facilitate goods transit processes and to «encourage technological innovations,» ensuring security measures and addressing any logistical hurdles.
In Argentina, they see the need for «harmonization and standardization of customs regulations and migratory, health, and phytosanitary procedures, so that commercial exchange flows much more smoothly,» according to Martín de Ríos, the Minister of Development of the Province of Salta, where the network will pass through. He added that «fortunately,» the four governments involved and governed are highly committed.
They envision that this project will determine the region’s future in the next 20 or 30 years, enabling «Latin America’s trade with the world» through the bioceanic corridor.
The bioceanic corridor will traverse the provinces of Salta and Jujy in Argentina, the regions of Mato Grosso Sul in Brazil, Gran Chaco in Paraguay, as well as the Antofagasta and Tarapacá regions.
How would it compete with the Panama Canal?
The creation of this corridor has been gaining momentum since early 2015 as an alternative to the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914 and shortens the route between the two oceans, covering a distance of 80 kilometers that takes between 8 and 10 hours for large ships, due to a system exclusively using freshwater.
Ships also have to wait in line, a process that, according to the Panama Canal Authority, takes between three and four days as of 2024, when operations have normalized after a severe drought lasting almost two years.
Currently, the Panama Canal has the capacity to move around 36 ships per day from one ocean to another.
During the waiting time, ships also need to account for travel time in South American ports to reach Central America and queue up for passage.
This is why the governments of South America have defined the bioceanic road corridor project as one that «strategically connects ports, key cities, and border crossings.»
Simultaneously, the project «enhances commercial logistics and strengthens regional integration» as part of an ambitious plan that would boost economic development in the areas involving Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay.
