The Undersecretary of Transport of the Government of Chile, José Luis Domínguez shares with the Trans-Port 2021 community his vision on the advances promoted by MTT in matters of sustainability and digital transformation, whose fundamental pillar has been the promotion of logistics communities port facilities as State policy. 1. What lessons learned can be highlighted in the actions taken by public ports in this period of pandemic and economic recovery? The MTT has focused mainly on ensuring the continuity of supply chains and maintaining the supply of the population as, as far as possible, the operation of key economic activities in the country, without neglecting and requiring employers and port authorities permanent health care and control and care measures for port and logistics workers. The pandemic has made us face a scenario of permanent change and global challenges for the operation of the logistics system. For this, actions have been permanently coordinated with the Ministry of Health. We have established mechanisms for the movement of workers associated with port activity, crew of ships and aircraft, and ground transportation personnel, with the aim of not interrupting supply chains. Likewise, different projects have been promoted in logistics digital transformation, such as the Maritime Single Window or the Port Community Systems, which allow us to advance towards the objective of minimizing face-to-face procedures and reducing the time involved. 2. How are sustainability strategies viewed by the MTT and how are they deployed by public ports in their businesses, workers and territories? Sustainability, from a comprehensive perspective, has been a permanent issue of occupation in our ministerial management. We must ensure that the deployment of actions is sustainable both in economic, social and environmental terms. In the case of ports, in the first place, this is manifested daily in current operations, with examples such as the signing and compliance with Clean Production Agreements (APL) in numerous ports and that, through the shared construction of specific goals by the Private actors linked to each port have allowed investment in improvements that have led to significant improvements in the environmental component of port activities. This is the case, for example, of the port of Antofagasta (with the modification of the process of shipment of mineral concentrates to dump containers) or the measures implemented in the logistics-port system of San Antonio, which have scope throughout the logistics chain . Likewise, an improvement is also produced through the incorporation of the environmental component in the development of the plans and projects of each port in particular, carrying out the required environmental analyzes and complying with the requirements and measures established in the processes of environmental assessment, maintaining a constructive dialogue with the communities. In the area of cultivating sustainable relationships with workers, we have developed a permanent work together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and representatives of the organizations of dock workers and related companies, to progressively improve regulations in this regard. Additionally, we have promoted the creation of the Port Logistics Communities (CLP), and last year it supported instances to discuss and share issues relevant to their communities such as “Governance and Sustainability”; “The role of the Logistics Communities in the resolution of contingencies”; “Improvement of port system processes through collaborative work” and “Technological solutions for the logistics chain”. The Logistics Communities are internationally recognized as instances of collaboration and management in the implementation of improvements in the port logistics chain, whose adoption of good practices enhances their efficiency and coordination. The shared experiences have made it possible to highlight the contribution in the improvement of logistics processes and the benefits that a CLP can provide to the people who live in the cities in which they operate. 3. What is the degree of progress in the digital transformation initiatives that the ministry is undertaking together with the maritime authority, public ports and the road transport sector? Digitization in logistics generates greater productivity, efficiency and competitiveness in the sector, therefore, the MTT, through the Logistics Development Program, works to promote the gradual introduction of technology in different areas of logistics. Thus, for example, we provide guidelines and tools for the adoption of technology in the port logistics chain, in addition to starting to raise the needs and requirements for airport logistics. An example is the Maritime Single Window (VUMAR), a digital platform that will manage the information on the reception and dispatch operations of ships, making all the required information available to users and allowing interoperability with the rest of the national and international systems. This platform began its work since 2018 and it is expected that all the modules will be developed in December 2021. When the project is completed, this system can be used -with the consequent benefits- by the Ship Agencies, Shipping Companies, SAG, Sernapesca, PDI, Customs, Health Service and port terminals, Sicex, Maritime Authority, international ports and users who require information associated with these operations. Starting in 2022, integrations with these organizations will be carried out gradually to complete the massification. Regarding land transport, the Foreign Trade Transport Identification System (SITCOMEX), which we are currently developing, will facilitate the entry of trucks to port and logistics areas without the need to present papers and documents for identification. We also work with ports to design a Port Community System Base Module, PCS, interoperable with national-level platforms (such as SICEX and VUMAR). This design provides national ports with a set of technical integration standards so that they can implement the functionalities of each port system on it. This work continues during this year, in order to have a definition of transversal basic services to include in the systems of each port; business model alternatives for its administration; definitions of the technical and management team profile to develop the functions of the case; as well as with guidelines to involve the logistics communities in these developments. 4. Trans-Port 2021 is committed to bringing together the main protagonists of the economic recovery of the global maritime-port industry, in addition to its main suppliers. How should Chilean ports and authorities take advantage of this event? We value all the opportunities that allow us to bring together logistics actors, which is so fundamental for the country and which silently involves a lot of work, coordination, projects and engineering developed at the service of the country, the productive sectors, and which ultimately lead to a greater development and quality of life for people.
