Bolivia granted an international classification to Central Aguirre, Gravetal and Jennefer, on 30 October. These three river ports are on the Paraguay-Paraná waterway that connects Bolivia with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean in general.
The port reclassifications come after the International Court of Justice decided that Chile did not undertake a legal obligation to negotiate sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean for the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
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Speaking about this development, the managers of the ports mention that they offer an alternative route to the sea. Specifically, Bismark Rosales, manager of Port Jennefer, stated that:
The hope, the opportunities that the Paraguay-Paraná waterway offers business owners and Bolivia’s economy are considerable
According to Mr. Rosales more businesses can reduce time and money floating goods up and down the waterway, instead of transferring them across the Andean Mountains. Namely, he added that regarding freight costs, the reduction would be about 18-20%, while the time would be less by up to 30%,
Currently, the transit costs for the Chilean-Bolivian part of the journey are many times the most expensive part of the voyage, Bismark Rosales noted. This is one of the reasons why Bolivia has struggled to appear competitive in the international market.
