First Steering Committee of the Project in Chile and Peru

The Project «SuizAgua Latinoamérica – Water Brings us Together» commenced its second phase activities in May 2017, in Chile and Peru through the NGO Agualimpia (Peru) and Fundación Chile (Chile) executive partners of the project. In this new stage, the project proposes to focus its actions in developing a corporate operating framework for the Water Footprint, to pursue the responsible and sustainable use of water and promote collective actions in the water catchments.

Accordingly, following a rigorous selection process of companies to form part of this innovative initiative fostered by the Water Initiatives Global Program of the Swiss Cooperation Agency COSUDE, the new members were invited to participate in the First Steering Committee of the Project.

The first meeting of the Steering Committee of the Project in Chile was held on Friday, November 24, in the premises of Fundación Chile, with the participation of representatives of the Swiss Embassy in Chile, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – COSUDE, the Sustainability and Climate Change Agency of Chile, the Water Directorate and Fundación Chile, as well as representatives from the companies that will form part of the project in this new stage: Olivares de Quepú, Watts, Aconcagua Foods, Frutícola Olmué, and Minuto Verde.

The occasion was a good opportunity to underscore the importance of the joint work of the public and private sectors in order to reach the goals set in the development strategies of Chile in the pursuit of efficiency in the use of the country’s water resources.

The first meeting of the Steering Committee of the Project in Peru was held on Thursday, November 30, in the office of the Swiss Embassy in Peru, which was opened by the Swiss Ambassador in Peru, Markus-Alexander Antonietti, who underscored the importance of the private sector in the water strategic and corporate management.

In turn, the Chief of the National Water Authority, Abelardo de la Torre, indicated that the work performed by the ANA with the Water Footprint Program promotes efficiency in the use of water and every day, companies are showing greater interest in forming part of this program. Integration of private enterprise around good use of water will be promoted under the presidency of the ANA. The project will be carried out from 2017 to 2020, with a budget of US$ 1 800 000, a cargo de Agualimpia.

Meanwhile, Martin Jaggi, Cooperation Director of COSUDE, emphasized that the SuizAgua project will continue to provide support to the Blue Certificate program undertaken by the ANA, promoting the addition of more companies to the program, providing technical support as it has been doing since the onset of the project.

The meeting counted with the participation of the representatives of COSUDE, APCI, Agualimpia and the companies participating in this new phase of the Project: Fénix Power, Buenaventura, Celepsa, Agrícola Cerro Prieto, Grupo Huamaní, and the companies that participated in the first phase: Asociación UNACEM, Nestlé, Mexichem, Orazul Energy, Camposol.