Speech
Santiago Peña  ·  2026-08-05 14:20

EN VIVO | Conferencia de Prensa

fat animals. Uh, and this is the 21st cold storage facility, if I remember correctly, Mr. President, and it will be located in the department of San Pedro. It has a very important connotation because of what it implies: a department where, previously, problems were discussed, difficult situations were discussed, and Estrellita was part of those situations that we deeply regret. Today we see the other side of Paraguay, where trust is built and where neighbors, those who live in the department, can have the opportunity to work together and attract more investors to this department because we truly have productive capacity and the confidence that is established here. Once again, I want to thank and congratulate you on San Pedro being chosen, and especially the district of General Resquín, strategically located practically in the heart of the department of San Pedro. We should give the governor some space here so he can also talk about the importance of this investment for the department of San Pedro. Thank you, Minister. Good morning to everyone. We are very pleased to announce this very important investment coming to the department of San Pedro, the construction of the first meatpacking plant in the department of San Pedro, the department that has the largest amount of beef cattle for export. That's why it 's really important to highlight the work of the Yunqueira family. Enrique Yunqueira, also a son, who have been committed to the department of San Pedro for quite some time now, and today in the process of building this first large meatpacking plant, which I am sure is the beginning, the start of the great investments that will be coming to the department of San Pedro, the department that has the greatest potential for growth in the eastern region. We celebrate this magnificent undertaking and thank the President of the Republic. We really had a very nice, very good, very productive meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, the President of Senza, and the Minister of [unclear], and we believe that this will be the beginning, the start for the great investments that the department of San Pedro is prepared to receive from investors. Cheers to my beloved department of San Pedro. We are all happy and excited about this very important announcement. Ah, good day to all. I am very happy to announce our investment in the department of San Pedro, specifically at the Estrelita ranch, where we have been working alongside the people of San Pedro for over 50 years. Today we had a meeting with the President of the Republic, and I thank President Santiago Peña and all the ministers who joined us here for this support, which is very important and gives us confidence to invest more and more in Paraguay, in San Pedro. I have no doubt that this meatpacking plant will be the starting point for major investments in our department. Let's start something small, but with big thoughts. The idea is to start with a refrigerator for 200 animals per day for the first year. In the second year, 400 animals will arrive, and hopefully, if the market goes well, we will reach 600 animals. The refrigerator is designed to be fully modular, capable of holding up to 600 animals, and with the support of President Santiago Peña's government, all the ministers, the governor of San Pedro, and all my friends here in San Pedro , I have no doubt that it will be a success. Thank you all and God bless Paraguay and bless all the people of San Pedro. What is the initial amount? Hey, ma'am, the idea. We have the total amount of the project which amounts to more than 40 million dollars. That includes the civil works part, the working capital part , the property purchase part, all the expenses. Then there would be the construction part, the first stage of which would be 200 animals per day, that would be an investment of 12,000 dollars in the property plus 10 million dollars in working capital for the second year, it would be an investment of approximately almost one million dollars for the expansion and then that would also automatically be more than one million dollars for working capital and most importantly the first phase. Now that we're in construction, we're going to hire and work only with people from the San Pedro department, mainly King, and for the entire neighboring city like San Vicente Pancholo and for the entire San Pedro department. Very good. Looking, which market specifically, sir? Internal or external too, right? The idea is to be a very modern meatpacking plant , so with the help and support here from the president of Senaxa, we want to access all the markets of the world and obviously also supply the Paraguayan market, which already knows our meat, which is the meat in the gold star. Minister Jiménez, I have a particular question for you, if I may. Commemoration of School Feeding Day , how are we doing in terms of supplies? I don't know if there's a specific complaint, but there are reports that food supplier companies are not complying with the production sectors. Well, we celebrated in a very auspicious way. Uh, it is still a process where the companies that supply and process food for schools have to build trust in domestic products. We have the production capacity . This will be achieved little by little with the producers who approach us and begin to build mutual trust, believing that we do have quality products and that trade will allow them to gain, over time, that faith they have in trade, which has its procedures and rules, and in fact, we are working on those aspects. Zero Hunger in Schools is a fairly new program; it has its difficulties and problems, but we have to look at the impact it has on family farming. There is trust, but we strongly agree that we still need to correct many things and that the companies that supply food to schools should buy products from our people. We understand that the administrators, in this case, the departmental governments, have the responsibility, but the company is the one that has to face the purchase of the products. So, there are situations that will adjust over time. Yesterday we had a very important meeting with the President of the Republic, with producer organizations, farmers' organizations, and representatives from the MAC systems. We discussed this situation, this problem that requires greater attention and adjustments so that, over time, family farming can truly account for not just 10% of production , but 100%. There are periods when we have seasonal supply issues, and there are still situations where we need to strengthen family farming, and that will happen gradually over time. There are organizations that are building a stronger, more solid business, but there are some that are still very incipient, that still need to correct many organizational weaknesses, and that with the passage of time I have faith that it will happen. Today we celebrate this date, but with the idea of ​​continuing to work, of adjusting many things still so that we can all celebrate that Paraguay is a truly self-sustaining country, that Paraguay can generate all the food for internal consumption and not import anything else, except for some lines or products that we are also capable of producing, but we need to cover the demand for more months, for a greater number of months for everything that the market requires. Thank you very much, Minister. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Minister. One last question, Minister. Are some small producers worried ? Especially regarding the possibility that companies are introducing contraband products into the school feeding program. Well, in fact they are contraband, a scourge that has been around for years, right? And the best way to confront this scourge is through sustainable production. This is the work we've been doing to ensure that smuggling isn't profitable for anyone. We are working towards that. There are complaints, yes, we've always had them. It's a problem; there are times when it affects the producer, and these kinds of events can probably happen , but complaints are important to identify where the problem is so that the justice system or the institutions in charge of enforcing the laws can do something about it. We're working on it. There are specific complaints. Significant seizures have been made. I believe that this government has seized the largest volume of products in these three years of government. So, it's a reality we can't hide, but it requires all stakeholders to work together so that we never again leave small producers behind and so that they are the ones who benefit from this business opportunity that has finally arrived in our country. Thank you so much.