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The Chamber of Industry: an invitation to participate

Article - January 29, 2013
The Chamber of Industry supports the development of Guayaquil with effective and well thought out services that respond to the needs of the members and the sector
The Guayaquil Chamber of Industry is one of the most influential business communities in Ecuador. Started in 1936 to promote a productive workforce and protect strong legal conditions, its members make up 37% of the country’s non- petroleum GDP. Its President, Henry Kronfle, is particularly optimistic about Guayaquil’s current and future economic prospects. Recent economic performance has helped reduce the unemployment rate by 2%, down to 5.9% of the active population. 
 
“The construction sector has played a big part in Guayaquil’s recent economic development because resources have been made available by local and central government for infrastructure, both in the city and throughout the province,” says Kronfle. “Many of those companies are based in Guayaquil and do business across Guayas, and this has helped to lower the unemployment rate, but in particular there has been a drive by the Guayaquil city hall to push public works and transform the city led by Mayor [Jaime] Nebot”.
 
Kronfle believes that the future growth of the economy in Guayas will be based on the development of manufacturing sectors that are not linked to natural resources “to give economic stability to the economy”, and to achieve this he is keen to invite Spanish businesses to get involved. 
“Spanish businesses can play a fundamental role” 

Henry Kronfle Kozhaya, President of Guayaquil’s Chamber of Industry
“There are a number of cutting-edge projects in energy, building and telecommunications in which Spanish companies can play a fundamental role,” he says. “Spanish companies with experience in extracting and distributing gas can play an important part, and the same can be said about companies with experience in construction. One of the biggest telecommunication players in Ecuador is the company Telefónica de España, so in this sector there are also tremendous opportunities for Spanish companies.” 
One of the biggest absentees from the Ecuadorian market is the Spanish banking sector. Neither of the leaders – Santander and BBVA – is present. Kronfle has a message for them: “Ecuador is once again becoming an attractive country for investment, especially as the banking sector is growing at an average of 9% per annum,” he says, and he suggests mergers and buy-outs as ways of entry. 
 
“Foreign banks can enter with clear rules and bilateral investment treaties and through mergers and purchases. Each situation needs to be analyzed but huge opportunities exist, as there is a lot of liquidity in the private sector. The government accounts for almost 50% of all economic movement in the country and, thanks to high petrol prices, lots of liquidity has been injected into infrastructure projects. As a result of this, the banking sector has been resuscitated to become one of the key growth sectors in the country.”
 
The President of Guayaquil’s Chamber of Industry suggests that one of the principles that keeps the organization strong is the encouragement of free trade and clearly defined rules and regulations so that businesses can work in complete freedom and secure conditions. 
 
“It’s not only that companies can compete freely with clearly defined rules, but also that there are mechanisms so others can freely enter and compete in the same markets; it is critical the defense of free competition is upheld,” Kronfle says.

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