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PymeMad: "The State Abandoned Small and Medium Landowners in Forestry Development"

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• According to the forestry and sawmill industry, SMEs provide 70% of employment, a sector that has weakened due to the conditions under which they operate.

The president of PymeMad Chile, Michel Esquerré, addressed the lack of public policies to boost the forestry industry, which has led to the closure of hundreds of sawmills and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. The collateral effects extend to small and medium-sized businesses that depend on forestry activities, impacting employment, decarbonization, and economic decentralization, added the leader.

According to Esquerré, "there have been sawmill closures declared by large companies over time. It is estimated that 200 sawmills have closed in Chile over the past five to six years. More than 30,000 jobs have been lost."
The leader also pointed out that "in recent months, after the fires in 2017 and last year, supply has also become complicated for large companies."

"Supply distances are very long, and if large companies face these kinds of problems, what happens to SMEs?" he said, asserting that "for 10 years, there has been no support for small and medium landowners' plantations due to ideological reasons."

In Michel Esquerré's opinion, "the supply of small and medium landowners is threatened if there is no support for plantations." He gave an example that if reforestation is encouraged, "for every million pesos the State invests in supporting small and medium landowners' plantations, after an average of 15 years, the Government recovers 4.5 million pesos, including VAT, transportation taxes, and the landowners' income tax."

ABANDONMENT OF THE FORESTRY SECTOR
The leader also explained the reasons why this support mechanism has not been resumed: "The State does not want to do it because deep ecology has spread the message that pine and eucalyptus plantations are bad for society."

The president of the timber SME association recalled that "70% of the world's carbon emissions are produced by cities, not by the forestry and agricultural sector. Our crisis is triggered because the State abandoned small and medium landowners in forestry development."

Michel Esquerré pointed out that "it was believed that all support would go to the two large forestry companies, but that's a misconception. This is for the small and medium sawmills in the country."
According to the president of PymeMad, forestry development would actually target "the small and medium sawmills in the country, which supply the vast majority of the national wood market."

FORESTRY SMES
The industry representative emphasized that "in the forestry and sawmill sector, SMEs provide 70% of employment. Thus, the most important economic muscle of the country, which is SMEs, is weakened."

"If we want a more equal country and better wealth distribution, what must be done is to strengthen SMEs," assured Esquerré, who claimed that current policies give the impression that "there is a desire to destroy SMEs in the sector."

"The forestry sector produces materials that reduce carbon footprints and help meet decarbonization commitments for the economy," he added.

However, he added that "the Ministry of the Environment has convinced people that pine and eucalyptus plantations do not help decarbonization, which is a colossal mistake ingrained in people's minds."

Source:latribuna.cl