[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] Oh. [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [ music] [ music] [music ] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music ] Good morning, Mr. President. Good morning, ministers, authorities, good morning, members of parliament. Special good morning and welcome, not only to the parliamentarians who have always been within the government, representing parties that are part of the government, but also to those who at different times have always been accompanying us and also of course to those present here. Um, I welcome the presence of Raúl Soto, president of the Party for Democracy, uh, of Deputy Mulé as well, uh, of Deputy Yan, and also of other parliamentarians who couldn't be here, uh, who are not part of this coalition, but who in previous conversations we've had in the past few days, uh, have come together on the need to move forward with this project, and I believe that with this we can not only move forward, but also send a signal to the country about the things that unite us and how we can progress together when we work together. So a special thanks to the parliamentarians present here who contribute to making these things progress. I'm going to be especially brief because, based on those duties, I know that parliamentarians also have to be in Congress fulfilling their obligations. Um, I'd like to say a couple of things about this project. Uh, this project sometimes makes the capital markets aspect a bit hard to understand. It sounds a bit sophisticated, but it actually consists of bringing national or international savings to use in development, consumption, or family life projects. And for that reason, this project starts with the fundamental issue of addressing a problem which is access to housing, access to housing for young people, who today find it very difficult to have their first home. Well, we don't rule out that this also has something to do with what we sometimes say about families having few children, forming them late; it also has something to do with that. Uh, and so we addressed that. I would like to briefly summarize the creation of the National Housing Fund. It is a fund that we estimate, with the design we have, will be able to finance around 150,000 new or used homes in the coming years. at the choice of whoever wishes to acquire it, and under credit conditions that we are looking for to be 30 years with 10% down payment and at very competitive rates, much more competitive than those seen today, delivered independently. This is done responsibly and sustainably; the calculations and estimates are there, it's how it's going to be done, but also promoting savings. There is a very relevant element in this project that promotes saving, and it allows families, after 30 months of sustained savings, to get closer to the future payment amount, so that the down payment, which we are estimating to be 10%, is covered by the state, which contributes three percent of that 10%. This way, the family can finally buy their house with a 7% down payment. This coexists with the other policies that the government follows from the Ministry of Housing; it does not replace them, but rather complements and strengthens them. Yeah, and that's fundamental. I would also like to point out a couple more issues that this project has. This project opens up, for the first time in Chile, the possibility of a stock exchange for startup companies. The stock exchange has basically become a place for transactions between very established, very old companies, but young people with projects, startups, mining explorations—a topic we have worked on and discussed with the Minister of Mining—simply do not have access to financing when they are starting out. Companies that are already established, right? But those who are leaving don't have it. Other countries do have it, it exists on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and we have extrapolated that experience and brought it to Chile. So this also opens up an extremely attractive window for young people. We also need to update our regulations. There's a lot of that here. There are some examples that I have always given, I say, the Frigobar taxes, which are taxes that we put in place and that do not generate revenue, but the only thing they contribute is that capital does not come in and ultimately recover the goal that was set at the time by the administration of the early 90s, it was reiterated later, but it has never been achieved. We hope that this time, with everyone's participation, we can achieve it, which is to turn Chile into a regional financial center. That's basically the project. I am grateful once again for your presence here and I believe that we will work very well together from now on in what is to come with this project, the project that facilitates saving and homeownership. Thank you. We appreciate the words of the Minister of Finance, Jorge Quiroz, and now we invite His Excellency the President of the Republic, José Antonio Cast, to speak . Thank you so much. Well, good morning. Thank you so much for being here today, representing such diverse political views, because I believe there is something that unites us: our own home. We may have, as I always say, legitimate differences, but when we talk about owning a home, when we talk about quality of life, we can find common ground, and there are few things that better represent the effort of a family than having the keys to their own home. All of us have been at the handover of homes and I think it is one of the most exciting moments along with the graduation of a child from a stage of education, owning their own home. Behind every key are years of work, saving, sacrifice, and giving up. Owning a home is not just about four walls and a roof; a house is bought or built with the purpose of having a place that welcomes us and a roof that is our home. I believe that concept, which I once heard Carlos Celi say, "I didn't have a house, I had a home." I interviewed him once for a YouTube channel, and he said, "I had a home, not a house, but to have a home you need a roof over your head, and that has become very difficult." What we're aiming for is that every Chilean family has a place where they can build their home, whether it's with a house or with a plot of land where they can build. A house of one's own becomes a home, and it's our first meeting place, where personal and family memories reside. As we saw in tragedies and fires, not only is material possessions lost, but also history, photographs, memories—everything we had accumulated over time is lost. Therefore, we have to ensure that more people can safeguard their history in that house of their own, which becomes a home. And owning a house means much more than just owning property. A house of one's own is also security, independence, heritage, and belonging. It's the peace of mind of knowing that no matter what happens, there's a place where I... I can return under any circumstances. It's also a concrete way to build freedom. Just as we always say that education gives freedom, property ownership also gives freedom. And that's why, and we've always pointed this out, and I think we all agree, we need a Chile of homeowners rather than a Chile of renters. How do things change when someone does n't have a title deed? And if you see it, when they receive the title deed, they say, "Here I have a piece of land that's mine." And I start to improve what was precarious. And solid construction begins to appear, as they say in the countryside. No, I have a solid house, made of brick, and a country where more and more families can say, "This is my house, this is my home, this is where I want to see my children grow up." That inheritance is what that family can also leave to their children. They always say, "I'm leaving my children an education." But it's also incredible when I asked them, "Well, is this property going to be yours or is it going to be yours?" And we know that dream of owning a home... It has become increasingly difficult due to housing prices, land values, interest rates, financing requirements, and the difficulty of saving, which have distanced people from having the resources for a down payment or to buy their own home. And the state has a responsibility here. That responsibility doesn't consist of replacing people's efforts, except in social cases where the person clearly has no other option, which is why social housing exists. Rather, we have to promote and support people, and if necessary, facilitate and promote it. When a family saves, the state should help them move forward. Perhaps not many. Some of us here remember those savings accounts from the State Bank, and our parents instilled this in us and took us at least once every two months to deposit a few escudos into that savings account. That savings account didn't yield any returns over time, so we didn't take great care of it and tried to maintain those savings so that at some point we would benefit from the bank. Later, investment systems changed, and deposits appeared... Terms, capital markets, and all that has been lost. But here we want to partially recover the effort of saving. When a young person wants to buy their first home, we must open doors for them and not put obstacles in their way. When a family wants to build on their own land, we must facilitate what they can do with urbanization issues, with sewage systems, and people get ahead when we make life easier for them. And when someone, after 20 or 30 years of work, gets married, they want to protect it, they want to feel that it belongs to them. Property also constitutes citizenship and community. Those who own their own home don't just think about what happens inside, which is something we've been losing due to insecurity. People sometimes don't dare to leave their house and see who their neighbor is, but if we have our own homes and we improve interaction in the neighborhood, if we take care to improve public spaces, that person will also go out and build community. And when there is community, it's easier to confront crime, organized crime. Owning a home creates roots, a home creates belonging, and interaction creates community, which That's what we're also striving for. And a country with rooted families, with heritage, and with strong communities and opportunities for progress is a more stable, freer, and also fairer country. Our great effort is to make the dream of homeownership a reality. We all know it's become more distant, and I want to thank the ministers here: the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Finance, the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, the Minister of Economy, the Minister of Housing, the Minister of Social Development, and the undersecretaries as well, especially the Undersecretary of Finance, who had an enormous task in getting this project ready. But if you look here, the economic issues are the economy, tourism, and mining. I'm grateful that yesterday we were able to make progress on the Tourism Statute, which is so necessary given the seasonal nature of the industry. I'm also grateful that we're making progress on the issue of small mining patents, which is something we've been proposing, and the mining commission is moving forward on the issue of social development and community engagement. Today we're looking at how to integrate all the alerts we have. To provide greater protection and safeguards for our children. Regarding housing, I see Minister Poduje working on housing issues in La Serena with the termites, in Iquique with the sinkholes, and in the south with the floods. Thank you for that work. The Minister Secretary General of the Presidency is knocking on every door. Yes. Mr. Peme García is constantly going around saying, "Look, this is really important." The Minister of the Interior, what can I say? Yes. You know him too . And the Minister of Finance, thank you for what you are doing. Each of you is putting in a lot of energy, and the most important thing is that you can share with the different members of parliament to see what things can be improved. Projects can always be improved with collaboration and internal discussion in the different committees. There are many things that can put us at a distance, but I am certain that there will be great support for homeownership and for saving for housing. Here, the formula, as the Minister of Finance said, is simple. It means a smaller down payment, less financial burden for the family, lower interest rates, and a longer mortgage term. These are the three essential concepts. If I need a 10% down payment, and if I also have savings, the government will contribute three 3% of the amount I need to reach 10%. If the term is extended because we've lost access to long- term loans, well, it will improve. And with this project that creates the National Housing Fund, FONABI, which will be managed by the State Bank and whose purpose is to acquire and finance mortgage loans for first-time homeowners, we are taking a step forward, along with the issue of voluntary savings for housing. Like I was saying, when we were little, I used to explain, "Look, save here." Well, if you save enough to cover the down payment, the government will cover the rest. If I save 7% of the 10% for the down payment, the government will contribute 3%, and that's a great incentive and makes it much easier for families to apply. to homeownership. These tools, along with others that I know were discussed, the reconstruction law, and others that are progressing, I believe will give us the necessary strength to move forward with homeownership. Again, I thank you for your attendance. I hope it will be a good legislative debate, that we can move forward, because this also aims, as I mentioned, at the community, at security, and at employment. As housing construction begins, the employment situation for our fellow citizens will also improve. We are in a critical situation. Ah, but we have hope, with the work we have done across the board with the various governors throughout Chile, with what we are doing regarding employment, with what will come in terms of reconstruction in the affected areas in terms of infrastructure, that we will move forward. It is a difficult time, but if we all apply ourselves and manage to agree on fundamental issues such as housing, security, and infrastructure, I am sure that we will have a very good next year. So, once again, thank you. We welcome everyone's presence and hope this can move forward as quickly as possible, with all necessary considerations for all members of parliament, so that everyone feels included. Thank you very much. We appreciate the words of the President of the Republic, who explained the scope of an initiative that seeks to improve access to housing for Chilean families. We invite His Excellency the President of the Republic, José Antonio Cast, and the Minister of Finance, Jorge Quiroz, to come forward for the signing of this initiative. The project includes the creation of the National Housing Fund, intended to acquire mortgage loans originated by financial institutions, the establishment of voluntary savings for housing, and access to mortgage loans to expand the number of families who can become homeowners. We invite the rest of the ministers present to come forward for the official photograph of the signing of this project. We also invite any members of parliament present who wish to join this official photograph to come forward. With this official photograph, we conclude this activity in which President José Antonio Cast presented the housing market bill. Capital, homeownership, and savings. We thank His Excellency the President of the Republic and the authorities present. Have a very good day. [bell]