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<\/p>\nArgentina, one of the world\u2019s leading food producers, has yet to finalise the future administration of its section of the Paran\u00e1\u2013Paraguay waterway, the route through which most of its exports pass.<\/p>\n
What is being discussed specifically is how the dredging, signalling and maintenance services of the waterway will be carried out after the expiry in 2021 of the contract with its long-time concessionaire, Hidrov\u00eda SA, an alliance between Argentine company Emepa and Belgian firm Jan de Nul. At this point, the administration will either remain in state hands, or a new call for tenders will be issued, in which the participation of large international companies is expected.<\/p>\n
The outcome will be crucial as, among other aspects, it will provide certainty over the execution of works that will reduce navigation times and lower logistical costs. At the same time, it may clear up doubts that have arisen among environmentalists, who are demanding that their perspective be incorporated into this new stage of the waterway\u2019s management.<\/p>\n
The Paran\u00e1\u2013Paraguay waterway is a river route formed by the Paraguay, Paran\u00e1 and La Plata rivers, which covers an immense basin extending from the Bolivian highlands and Brazil\u2019s Mato Grosso state, across Paraguay and northern Argentina to the Atlantic Ocean. It stretches more than 3,400 kilometres and crosses the largest agri-food production area in the Mercosur trading bloc.<\/p>\n
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As a navigation system that integrates transport and logistics services, the waterway has a short history. Although it dates back to 1969, when a first treaty was signed between Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, it became more important in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
The management of the waterway in Argentina underwent a substantial change in 1995, when permission for dredging and the creation of a beacon system along the route was granted, which substantially increased the depth of the rivers, allowing the entry of larger vessels and unprecedented port development.<\/p>\n
This was a turning point for Argentina\u2019s agro-industrial development, to the point that exports of grains, oils and related products tripled<\/a> in little more than two decades, from 29 million tonnes in 1995 to 100 million tonnes in 2021.<\/p>\n According to Juan Carlos Venesia, director of the Institute for Regional Development (IDR), a foundation based in Rosario, the decisions taken in the mid-1990s \u201callowed Argentina to become, within broader Mercosur, the country with the highest growth in the oilseed industry in the last 20 years.\u201d Past, present and future<\/h2>\n
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