South Bolivia determined to emerge stronger from the crisis

With the support of DECP the three employers' federations in the south of Bolivia have jointly developed a plan to restart and further develop the economy. The plan and the active lobby have already led to a lot of dynamism at the national level, but also in the south of Bolivia itself.

Traditionally, much attention in Bolivia goes to the central axis of the cities of La Paz-Cochabamba-Santa Cruz. The south of Bolivia, with the departments of Tarija, Potosí and Chuquisaca, is often overlooked.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the major consequences for regional economies prompted the three employers' federations to jointly develop the "Plan de reactivación y fortalecimiento de las economías del sur de Bolivia: Chuquisaca - Potosí - Tarija". They have been (financially) supported by DECP.

The plan provides not only for the reactivation of the economy and the labour market after Covid-19, but also for the strengthening of the economy in the long term. In this sense the federations have drawn up proposals for, for example, the mining of lithium, the cultivation of superfood, a joint proposition for tourism offering and a plan to attract investments.

Press conferences about the plan, campaigns on social media and national television, and approaching regional governments and presidential candidates led to a lot of attention for the proposals. In the south of Bolivia itself, the actions generated a new dynamic that was well taken up by the press and the regional authorities. The current president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, also received a copy - at the time as a candidate - and promised to come back to it.

The collaboration between the three federations has also led to the launching of a joint digital trade fair, Fevisur, in December. This fair attracted several tens of thousands of unique visitors from Bolivia and abroad.

The business organisations are now working on promoting and developing the proposals further with lobbying.