Chinese pharmaceutical companies Sinovac abandons setting up innovation development center in Antofagasta communeas confirmed by the executive this Friday.
The project was announced in August 2021 by the then-Sebastian Piñera government but failed to progress beyond the planning stage, Might move to Colombia.
A source commented cooperative One factor that contributed to the initiative’s failure in Chile was the call “Permission Theory”The term was coined to point out that bureaucracy, such as the private sector and parliamentarians, hinders the progress of investment projects, and this week in China the current government, Gabriel Boric, has pledged to reform the process.
However, the Minister of Science, Eisen Echeverripointed to other reasons: based on their background in the administration, “rather than what triggered the decision It’s not a question of license, it’s a question of market size, This is for different reasons. “
“In particular, it is a factory designed for a certain type of vaccine. Simply put, not all types of vaccines can be produced in the same factory, but they are specific to a certain type of vaccine and a certain technology. It has certain market characteristics that Sinovac does not necessarily view Chile as attractive. We know there are conversations with Colombia,” he explained.
Nonetheless, Echeverry emphasized that “Chile is quite advanced in vaccine research and development It’s not just about the packaging of the vaccine, it’s also about the possibility of creating and testing vaccines, which goes well beyond packaging. “
“In this sense, there are efforts being made by different researchers, such as Professor (Alexis) Kalergis, who are already making progress in the laboratory where they will be able to make vaccine samples with all the certifications, what they do is Putting Chile in the position of a producer”he added.
The minister said they have not concluded conversations about installing other plants across the country.
In another precedent, last February, Economy Minister Nicolás Grau explained to the House of Commons health committee that in May 2022, Sinovac concluded: The land provided by the state-owned assets does not meet the necessary conditions for the full development of the center.; Since then, the pharmaceutical company has not made any announcement in this regard.
At the end of May this year, Colombia announces Bogotá Bio laboratory to develop vaccines against Covid-19, chickenpox and hepatitis A, initial, Choose Sinovac as a strategic partner for this project.
Antofagasta parliament blames each other
he Senator Pedro Araya of Antofagasta (Independent-PPD) He said, “More than two years after the construction of the vaccine laboratory was announced, I believe There is a need for different authorities to clearly inform communities about what is happening” in order to “understand, if true (…) what are the reasons why the company did not build a laboratory in Antofagasta. “
“This ineffective government throws everything we did during the pandemic to the ground We even managed to get to Antofagasta, a regional city that is about to receive a Sinovac plant.But it has slipped away because the authorities of this administration clearly do not want to move forward,” he charged From opposition deputy Jose Miguel Castro.
Senators from the same region Paulina Nunez, RN point out “The Sinovac Disaster and the Politics of Experimentation, This is what I call today’s chapter. We try to confront the tragic history between governments and authorities at different times. No more contempt for Antofagasta, stop giving up on areas where we have made huge contributions to our country without getting anything in return. “Regional alliances will be the only way forward.”
“Permission theory”: CCP urges elimination of “bottlenecks”
Affected by this news, large business circles emphasized reform “Licensing” Minister Grau should propose a new law by the end of the year.
“The Minister of Economy and Finance (Mario Marcel) are concerned about this issue and we have expressed this to them, especially the Minister of Economy, who said they are working on sectoral licenses and will soon introduce a bill to modify the environmental system ,” explain Ricardo Mewes, President of the Federation of Production and Commerce.
“I hope this bill incorporates the concerns we have raised so that we have no doubts about an institutional framework that protects the environment, and Eliminate bottlenecks and discretion Many times, some officials do just that, they block some projects,” he commented.