ARGENTINA SIGNS TRANSPARENCY COMMITMENT WITH THE OECD TO TENDER THE PARANÁ-PARAGUAY WATERWAY

The agency will analyze the governance of the tender and the integrity of the execution of the infrastructure.

The Minister of Transport of Argentina, Mario Meoni, signed on April 8, together with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an act of commitment that will be valid for 18 months for the next tender for the Paraná- Paraguay, the result of which will be presented to the Public Governance Committee of the international organization.

On the occasion, the minister assured that the signing of this agreement allows progress “with the peace of mind of having an important process of transparency and applied regulations, of a tender that is, surely, one of the most transcendental that we are going to have in our country. Not only because of what the dredging and marking of the Paraná River – Paraguay means, but also because of the strategic development it represents for Argentina. “

“We are willing that the new concession help the port-river infrastructure, because we understand the Hidrovía, which concentrates 80% of the country’s exports, as an opportunity for the progress of the entire shipping and river industry, which allows navigability at all times, taking care of the environment and enabling economic development in various regions, “he added.

Finally, Meoni highlighted: “We have been having a participatory activity with all the actors and interested parties on foreign trade, port production, the grain trading exchanges of the different provinces, the shipping industry, the workers. We want it to be a tender. transparent and participatory “.

In this sense, cooperation between the National Ministry of Transportation and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will be developed in two phases: during the first, the OECD will analyze the governance of the next tender for the Paraguay Waterway. -Paraná, including the institutions, processes and rules applicable to the contracting of works and the concession of the Hidrovía, as well as the measures to promote integrity, transparency and accountability during the execution of the infrastructure.

Later, during the second phase, the OECD will develop a guide to support the Ministry of Transport in the analysis of risks derived from the contracting of public works and the establishment of mitigation measures.

In turn, the National Ministry of Transportation and the OECD will organize specific workshops to transfer knowledge and good practices, analyze the various recommendations and facilitate the implementation of the project. In addition, the OECD will share knowledge and accompany the next tender for the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway through the participation of its experts in a consultative panel that will meet monthly to discuss the progress and challenges of the infrastructure. The result of all the work carried out will be presented in reports that will synthesize the analysis and recommendations of the international organization, as well as the good practices of the member countries and partners in relation to infrastructure governance.

This measure of the Ministry of Transportation of the Nation has the objective of accompanying the public policies carried out through the control processes that are consolidated from the moment of the assembly of the specifications, the call for bids, the award and the subsequent completion of the work, a historic achievement in relation to the Paraná – Paraguay Waterway that has not occurred for 25 years.

Participating in the signing of the cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Transport and the OECD, in addition to Minister Meoni: the Deputy Director of Public Governance of the OECD, Janos Bertok; the Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Transport, Abel De Manuele; the Director of the Directorate of Access to Information and Transparency of the Ministry of Transport, Marianela López; the Undersecretary of Integrity and Transparency of the Anticorruption Office, Luis Villanueva; the First Secretary of the Section in charge of International Organizations at the Embassy of Argentina in France, Ayelén Amigo; among others.