[snort] They're less ugly than Rubén. When you're just indicating it. Ren, just bring yours. We are. Good afternoon, how are you? Thank you so much for joining us. Uh, as always, we greatly appreciate the presence of all the media. Thank you. We can reach all citizens , all the homes in our country, with all the information from the Paraguayan government. Well, a very important meeting concluded a few minutes ago, which lasted approximately two and a half hours and was led by the President of the Republic, Santiago Peña. In this meeting, I want to particularly highlight the openness of the Paraguayan government to address such important issues as the energy sector, such as the electricity sector. And precisely in that work that the government has been doing, this first session of this meeting, of this sub-electrical table, as we called it, the first of its kind, took place . The government has been working on this since last week. The President of the Republic convened the energy committee and more sessions of this committee and other committees related to energy in our country will be convened. As I was saying, I want to highlight the openness of the Paraguayan government, of the President of the Republic, Santiago Peña, and his entire cabinet to work with and, above all, to listen to all sectors related to energy, in this case, to the technicians, the specialists, and especially to academia. I mentioned the President of the Republic, and in addition to thanking all sectors for their presence and their willingness to attend, I also mentioned that [sighs] it is very important that we all work together to strengthen institutions and build a country that moves towards a stronger future, with strengthened institutions and strengthened instruments so that we can continue moving towards that path. Um, I want to mention that the President of the Republic praised the entire journey that has been underway for decades. in the energy sector in our country. Let us remember that Paraguay has the most important hydroelectric power plant that the president always mentions, clean, renewable, abundant energy that we still have today, and that everything that has been done is important, and even more important is to continue working on that path for the construction of a giant Paraguay, as the president mentions, for the future. The president also expressed his gratitude for all the work being done by all sectors, especially ANDE, whose institutional strength he praised. He also acknowledged and commended the Paraguayan government's efforts in negotiations with Brazil, which have led to the achievements of today, allowing them to continue building on the government's projects, including large hospitals and the Zero Hunger initiative. This underscores the importance of this sub-electricity roundtable. What else did the president mention? He personally led this meeting and was the only one who spoke. And I want to emphasize this. Because? Because the president wants to listen to all sectors, and above all, this meeting was held, as I mentioned, to listen to energy specialists, to listen to academia, and to all those who work in the electricity sector. This meeting was held primarily to listen, and also to listen for more than two and a half hours, almost three, to all the specialists who are with us here, whose presence I appreciate, and whom I will introduce so that they can tell the media and the public what was discussed in this meeting. President Santiago Peña made a very important announcement that starting today, two very important instruments, two bills, will be made available on the web: the creation of the Ministry of Mines and Energy and another document with the creation of the regulatory body for the electricity sector. This is so that it is available to specialists so that it can be analyzed, reviewed, and debated, because what the Paraguayan government and President Santiago Peña are seeking with his vision of a great Paraguay and his vision for the future is for everyone to contribute. We are talking about building a country with strong institutions, with strong legal instruments so that it can sustain itself and so that this giant Paraguay can be built . This will be uploaded to the web. We will also share with all the media outlets which page will be launched, and that's it, because as I was saying, it is very important that we all build this Paraguay together . You often hear President Santiago Peña say it, and he always mentions, "He can't do it alone, it can't be done alone." The government needs to work with everyone, and we have to build this giant Paraguay together. The important thing is to build a great Paraguay for its citizens, for all Paraguayans, so that we can continue to grow and look to the future in the best way. Having said that, I would like to now give the floor to the specialists who participated in this meeting so that they can tell you more about the technical aspects of what was discussed in this meeting, and I reiterate, especially in this meeting, the first of its kind with all sectors, where the Paraguayan government opened itself up and listened to all sectors. Mr. Ruben Jack Deseal, please. if you can come forward to speak . Go ahead, Mr. Ruben. Good morning. Thank you, Grance. Well, we were with the president and we gave him our opinion that in Paraguay at this moment there are very good investment opportunities, but we are encountering a bottleneck. The bottleneck is institutional. Uh, there's no regulatory body, there's no ministry of economy. The issue of energy, sorry, the issue of energy is not a minor issue. The bottleneck we are encountering for foreign investment and domestic investment in local industries is energy. And we need to focus on that seriously. We have to take that into account. Eduardo Vietma de Aper. Well, good afternoon. It really represented a very important meeting for the sector for us too, a starting point for something that was needed for a long time. I believe that the electricity sector needs the attention of all Paraguayans in general, from industry, commerce, education, and everyone in the private sector, in order to, let's say, provide the necessary institutional framework under these two new laws being presented. We will study them, the private sector will collaborate, and we believe this is the mechanism for Paraguay to be predictable in the coming years with respect to power generation. distribution and transmission of electrical energy. This is already a challenge for us as a country and a challenge for Paraguayans, and we hope that with these laws and others that will probably come, we will achieve this and become greater and greater, as our president wants. Thank you so much. Thank you, Eduardo. Next, we hear from Enrique Duarte, president of the Paraguayan Industrial Union . Go ahead, Mr. President. Good afternoon everyone. The truth is that it was a very interesting meeting where, through a public dialogue in which only the president spoke and a private one, the aim was to build consensus, but through the diversity of opinions. What's happening today? The world is constantly changing. Things are changing in Paraguay. Probably 10 or 15 years ago. No, no, I shouldn't have. We weren't going to debate, nor did we expect the country to have the growth it has, nor that international investment would take notice of the country. But what's going on? We need to build strengths, we need to have a reliable energy structure, we need investment, public investment, private investment. But what's going on? For that investment to exist, for the industry to develop, what is needed? Conditions are needed, legal certainty is needed. How can the private sector, and even the public sector, invest if we don't have tariff conditions? So, what are we looking for? There should be no sectors that are both judge and jury. So, we, particularly from the private sector, agree on the need, firstly, that an old desire of the energy sector is to have an organic structure within the structure of the state, which is that of a ministry of energy, mines and energy, and on the other hand, to build the first leg of what is a deregulated market, which is to have a regulatory body. Next will come the agencies that work with the planning and system operation aspects. But what is required today? A regulatory body is urgently needed. It's true, when we have those rules, investments will come in a more orderly fashion. But today, right now, the urgency of the moment requires decisions that go even beyond the normal structure of use in Paraguay. We need to start investing now, especially in electricity generation. 2030, 2031 is just around the corner . There are no suppliers with delivery times that would allow us to address this in the short term. In other words, this meeting was based on and all these things were said, and I believe we have to continue, we have to work, and most importantly, there's nothing closed here. The government is making two bills available, and we will each give our opinion on them, looking at what each of our sectors requires, and I believe that is the way to build public policies. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you so much. Next, we hear from Sebastián Hcha, the nation's senator. He could n't get it right, congressman. Excuse me, excuse me, congressman. The senator is there, Mr. Marcelo Duarte. Well, it's a pleasure to greet many of you after a long time. I have been working for some time in consulting with international concessions. We recently completed the nodal pricing process with the Bit, which is very important for establishing the final cost of energy for potential buyers. But beyond that, I would like to tell you that what we have come here to contribute is that in order to have different results, we need to do things differently than we have been doing them until now. The proposal is on the table. The government is offering two documents, which we believe are of absolute importance. And beyond that, we have here a group of people with extraordinary experience, a professional career closer or further away from the business world or the energy world. Well, maybe it's not 100% of what I believe, but it's not 100% of what we all believe either. But what we do agree on is that there are two phrases that have paralyzed Paraguay. The first is that everything that was done was done wrong, which is a lie, and the second is that nothing that is going to be done can change because it doesn't work. Between those two points, we need to reach some consensus. I am convinced that we will have many more points of agreement than disagreement in this process, and that the future of Paraguay and its growth depend largely on the next steps we take in opening up the electricity market to private investment, which is the direction we are heading. I was able to quickly calculate, with the help of artificial intelligence tools, how much has been invested in the telecommunications market since its opening. From the year 95-96 approximately, when Conatel was created, and there are more than 6.5 billion dollars. If we extrapolate that arbitrarily to the field of energy investments, the investments are heavier, tougher, and sometimes bring greater benefits depending on what one is going to invest in; this means that we have a lot of money to invest in Paraguay with a regulator that works relatively well. So, well, I'm very grateful for this opportunity and thank you very much, Guillermo, for giving me the floor. Thank you, former congressman. Uh, thank you all very much. That is precisely the intention of the government, I reiterate this, to build together, to listen to all sectors and we continue with that. Now we also hear from Cecilia Lamosa, an expert in energy and also everything related to the digital field, please. So, how's it going? It has truly been a pleasure to be part of this conversation. These are really two issues that greatly strengthen ANDE, give the executive branch greater prerogatives to carry out these very ambitious plans, and above all, include the diversity of voices that are part of this conversation today. So, I'm very grateful for the opportunity and we'll continue to contribute. Thank you very much, Cecilia. that rate of national growth. Well, creating and strengthening institutions is fundamental so that we can continuously receive international capital and technology . We are convinced that this is the time for reforms in the electricity sector, so that our country can continue to be that attractive place, that place that is sought after from abroad, and so that Paraguayans can also have the opportunities to develop professionally as entrepreneurs, as academics, in all aspects related to the growth of our country. We commend the initiative and are willing to collaborate on a very necessary issue, and we would even say almost essential, to continue growing at the pace we are currently experiencing. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Very kind. Next, we hear from engineer Fabián Cáceres. Good afternoon everyone. I believe that what happened today is a historic milestone, primarily for the electricity sector . This is the first time a president of the Republic has convened a meeting of this kind, where representatives of the private sector, independent professionals, teachers, and people with knowledge and expertise in the electricity sector were heard by the president himself, who took the time not only to listen to us, but also to respond to us. And I think that today the government is showing that it is not only concerned with the electricity sector, but that it is also now going to address all the problems that this encompasses. We were presented with a series of documents, we were also shown the financial situation of ANDE, the situation of the energy reserves and well, I think I particularly consider that the most urgent thing is to incorporate new sources of generation and that was also discussed and well, I hope that this will be the starting point for a revolution in the electricity sector. that we need. Because? Because we Paraguayans deserve to continue enjoying electricity just as we have until today. Thank you so much. Thank you, engineer. Very kind. We would also like to hear from Guillermo López Flores next, please. Thank you. Good afternoon. I could consider it a turning point, a paradigm shift in my long 55-year career of professional practice in the market. Why is it paradigmatic? For as long as I can remember, the energy sector, like other sectors, has always been entirely controlled by the public sector. Civil society, which is already weak in Paraguay, has never, to my memory or record, been summoned or invited to participate in the formulation of any kind of document . This is new. It's a long, complicated road, but the longest journey begins with the first step. This type of reform [clears throat] is something we are late to implement because in 62 years we have been governed by Law 966, which organizes the Paraguayan electricity market , this is the first structural change. There were small cosmetic changes, but this is structural; it's complex because many interests and interest groups are involved, and in reforms there are always losers and winners. It's not easy at all, but I repeat, you have to start and nothing is ever perfect from the beginning. It progresses step by step. There is no pause for continuous improvement. I congratulate the government on this first great step. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for being here. On behalf of the president, I reiterate this and also that you may share it with the entire audience. We listened to the opinion of Professor Dr. Victorio Auxilia, an expert in electrical matters and also from the academy . Well, thank you very much, Guillermo. Good afternoon everyone. As a member of the academy, I truly celebrate not only the openness of the President of the Republic and the interest he showed in listening to all our voices during the meeting held a few minutes ago, right? but we have also confirmed that it is not an improvisation. We are talking about an institutional strengthening that the President of the Republic is proposing, which is already contemplated in the national energy policy to 2050, which was approved by the President of the Republic in 2024. And among the first actions that this policy advocated, as we would say, as a roadmap, is the construction of an independent framework. In addition to that, this institutional strengthening contemplates the creation of a political or public policy body, a ministry or a ministerial-level body that organizes the different institutions, that views the energy sector not only from the point of view of demand, but also from the point of view of supply, a systemic and strategic vision, a ministry that thinks in that way, right? Viewing the energy sector in a systemic way reassures the population, because a ministry of this type also engages in dialogue with other ministries and other public policies, right? So, regarding the proposal to create the Ministry of Energy, Mines, Hydrocarbons, or whatever it may be called, let's see the document that will be uploaded to the website, right? to establish those policy regulations for the entire energy sector. So, we celebrate from academia and accompany this process, and we at the National University of Asunción are also available to support in what corresponds to us and in what is necessary. Thank you so much. Thank you, doctor. Thank you very much, doctor. Next, we also heard from engineer Gianmarco Felipo from the electrical sector. Well, thank you all very much for your attention, right? We are very happy to be able to participate in this panel. As my colleagues said, it's a before and after, a milestone in the Paraguayan electricity market. of electromechanical works companies. Um, we believe it's super important that we have an entity that can also help us see the visibility of the infrastructure that will have to be installed in the country so that we, as companies, can support that development. We believe we have the expertise, we have the engineers, we have the willingness to invest in the country, and we believe that with these new changes we will be able to help ensure that it is not only foreign investment that comes to help the country grow, but also national investment to carry out all these projects. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, engineer. And finally, we would also like to hear from Dr. Marcelo Duarte, the constitutional senator as well, doctor, please. Well, one important thing to mention in the strictly legal field is that due to the great scope of this bill, which cuts across all Paraguayan legislation, there will probably also be some episodes involving instruments that we have approved by law, but which are agreements with neighboring countries. And energy, as has already been said here in our country, electricity in particular is not only indispensable, but is also probably the most valuable resource we have, and now it is being addressed through law, and that is why it is very important to be very precise and careful in its enactment. to establish the rules of the game so that there is local investment, that is, national and foreign, in order to revitalize this. Well, the national government has taken the first step starting from the executive branch. Now it is up to the legislature to approve this bill, and from there the agencies responsible for its implementation will have to do their part in building what everything indicates will be a prosperous future for all Paraguayans because of the possibility of developing ourselves based on what is proposed with electrical energy, and whose biggest regulatory instrument will be this, fundamentally in terms of its generation and distribution. Consequently, it is difficult to imagine a more significant initiative than the one presented today . Thank you so much. Thank you very much, doctor. Any questions? Yes, so that you can consider whether, in terms of transparency, with everything that was discussed today, you believe that it was up to the standard of everything that was debated in this regard, and also with the formulation of the bill for the regulatory body. Yes. Go ahead, go ahead. With respect to the regulatory body, and to reiterate this, the desire of the Paraguayan government and the vision of President Santiago Peña to build a great Paraguay together, with strength, with transparency, as you are seeing, and that this will lead us to a very, very great future for a great country. Thank you so much. Okay, that's how the national board meeting went.