The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Javier Giménez, visited the city of Tobatí, in the department of Cordillera, where he highlighted the importance of the olive oil sector as a key generator of employment and economic development in the region. He stressed the Government’s commitment to the sector and announced the installation of a continuous working group for the development of the sector.
“We have a direct responsibility, a very strong commitment to come here to listen, to understand the problems. We are doing a survey of each point in the chain so that people find it more competitive, it is more profitable to produce bricks, so that they can improve the level of employment, so that they can buy machinery and have adequate financing for this, which is the growth of the sector,” said the minister.
He also pointed out that behind the production of each brick, there are about 1,500 SMEs and a work chain that directly impacts between 8,000 and 10,000 people, taking into account that it involves other sectors such as the wood, logistics, and construction sectors.
The minister also highlighted the support of the President of Paraguay, who was also present in Tobatí to support this fundamental economic activity for the country, reported the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC).
In turn, the Vice Minister of Industry, Marco Riquelme, stressed the commitment to understand the problems they are facing and to work in a coordinated manner with other ministries to help potters to have more opportunities.
For his part, the Vice Minister of MSMEs, Gustavo Gimenez, highlighted the opportunities that formalisation can offer to the olive oil sector, such as access to credit and the market through the constructions carried out by the Government of Paraguay itself through the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Habitat (MUVH).
