development and the Ministry of Economy's inclusion is to open opportunities. Seeing inclusion as that element of opening opportunities and that financing is making dreams possible, making entrepreneurship possible, and that transformation implies a great opportunity for the small and medium productive sector and that it generates employment, generates well-being and in turn a resilience that is ultimately the true objective of development and rural development. So, from our side, thank you very much for joining us today in the forum, Madam President. So we are very happy to be able to enjoy the following panels that will really induce and talk and reflect on what we are talking about when we talk about financial entrepreneurship, about inclusion from the point of view of rural development. Thanks a lot. [applause] Thank you very much, ma'am. Next, we will welcome to the podium the president of the agricultural credit agency , Mrs. Amanda León. Welcome. Good morning everyone. I extend my warmest greetings to all the national and international authorities who are with us today. Her Excellency Mrs. Leticia Ocampos. Thank you very much, First Lady, for always being there when agricultural credit requires not only your presence or your company, your accompaniment in Asunción, but also in the interior. And for us that is very important, ma'am, so that producers, women, and young people can see that there are truly public policies with the support of the Paraguayan government to generate the opportunities that our people need. I would also like to greet Minister Albertini, thank you very much, Minister. She is from the First Lady's office to colleagues, coworkers, and producers who often do n't know her yet; she is also a powerful strategic ally . Doña Fabiola, thank you for always being there. Fabiola is our neighbor, the FAO is involved in agricultural credit. So, our neighbor, uh, I was telling the president that in the countryside where we identify more with the people of the countryside, even when salt is needed, one asks the neighbor. Well, this is just a small sample. I would love to pass the microphone to each of you. I'm sure countless stories will come out of that opportunity, but it's just a sample of two companies out of the nearly 150 we have here. We are super proud of all our licensees across the country. We want this event to also be a commitment for us as Reyx, as a government. Here are all the institutions that also bring together what is known as the Country Brand in Paraguay. A commitment also to move this program forward, to ensure that the benefits reach each of the licensees, and also to listen to them to see what we can do more and better. So thank you, Mr. President, Ministers, and for this unique event that we are doing for the first time and it fills us with pride, but also with a huge commitment to continue moving forward and conquering markets. So thank you. A great commitment, as the Deputy Minister of Redx, Eduardo Gustale, said. And we will renew that commitment, and we ask for the words of the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Marco Riquel. Well, good morning to everyone. It is truly an honor for me to be here with you. On your behalf, Mr. President, I greet today the 150 companies, 137 of which are here with us today, who are with us . There were some from the interior who couldn't make it, but this gathering is mainly to congratulate you and put you in the spotlight. Each of you has suffered the pains of growing and creating a brand in Paraguay, but today you also find yourselves at different stages of your company. Some are already ready to export, but they need a strong Paraguay Country Brand to generate confidence abroad. There are others that are just starting out, but they need that country brand to be not only strong abroad, but also strong here at home. We have to start from within; we Paraguayans have to be confident that we have potential, that we are ready for great things. And that is why the President of the Republic always talks about being a country with a mental Mediterraneanness that costs us even more than our mentality, than our geographical Mediterraneanness. It tells us that it's a mental issue, not a matter of ability. And we understand that when a Paraguayan is given an opportunity, with the voraciousness and the Guarani grit, he goes out and conquers. So, as a country brand, what we often want to do is try to give ourselves a little of that confidence and understand that this winning mentality, this mentality of being able to get ahead, is what we have to conquer. And when we think about generating a brand and starting a business, we always make the decision to go for price as a differentiator or to go for creating a brand, which is a slightly more difficult path, a slightly more expensive path that has many more uncertainties. But if you only focus on price as a company's differentiator and brand differentiator , you'll always go for the cheapest competitor. Therefore, our only differentiator cannot be price. Our differentiator has to be something else. We have to try to attract attention and be able to distinguish our brand and do it consistently over and over again until that grows within people's minds and that brand can be associated with something in the long term, right? So, the first question is, what path do you each want to choose with your companies? But we too, as Paraguay. Where is Paraguay today? And whether it will be a country that chooses based on price or on other factors, such as energy availability or competitiveness, which is very different from price. Being competitive is different from being cheap. Being competitive means doing things efficiently through quality and training our people. So, together we have to start working to really create that country brand that will end up characterizing us and differentiating us, and it will also give you as private brands the opportunity to be enveloped within the creation of our country so that you can go out and sell in the world. And much of what it has to do with creating a brand lies in innovation. And the strongest inhibitor of innovation is the fear of failure. We have to eliminate that from our daily lives because you all surely understand that there is no success without failure. Failure is a part of success and a component of what makes us grow as professionals, as entrepreneurs, and as a brand as well. And often when we think about innovation and the fear of failure as public officials and as public policymakers, the mindset is a little different because the fear can become a little more important due to the exposure we have when the government fails at something that tried to innovate, the positions are much stronger than the exposure within the private sector. But innovation is also the most important catalyst for success. One stands out by innovating. So, in a way, being together in this and creating the country brand positioning strategy together, it also strengthens us as a government because if we are all together we can take risks to go out and innovate and really do things differently. And we often put innovation up there on a pedestal. Innovation is part of everyday life . Innovation lies in how you go out to sell. Innovation lies in the color you choose for the packaging. Innovation often lies in bringing together two things that did not previously exist together. And there I tell you the story of a major luggage brand that brought together two things that had previously coexisted for 200 years. There were cars with wheels and there were suitcases, which we often see in movies, that image of a person dressed as they used to dress , carrying a 23 kg suitcase in their hand, right? And an innovative genius there chose to combine the two things and completely changed the category of what existed previously, which was the briefcase suitcase. He combined two existing things and created a new category: the wheeled suitcase, which is now the norm, and anyone who doesn't have a wheeled suitcase today is practically no longer in the market. So, with that we realize that innovation is in the small things and innovation doesn't necessarily have to come only from the commercial or marketing area. Colgate was having sales problems at some point in its history, and at a board meeting, the general manager said, "Well, what can we do? We're selling little, and fixed costs are rising." Then the industrialist came out and said, "I know how we can double sales." And the salesman said, "How am I supposed to know how to double sales?" That's my point; it has nothing to do with the industry. And that's when you realize that with the suggestion the industrialist makes—that the industrialist says, "No, the exercise of power of putting toothpaste on a toothbrush is the same thing." If we make the nozzle a little bigger, we'll make people use up the toothpaste in half the time, and with that they'll have to buy toothpaste much faster, and with that we'll be able to double sales. So, without practically making any changes that would affect the consumer's decision , they were able to multiply sales with those small changes, and with that we don't understand that within the organization everyone needs to be listened to , right? And all together we have to try to make companies or brands great, the industrialist, the salesperson, the CEO or anyone within an organization. And that's why we in the government also have to work as a team. We need to work as a team with MITIC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the tourism sector, and various other institutions so that we can truly complement each other, communicate effectively, and develop a long-term positioning strategy. The word brand comes from the English word "brand," which historically comes from marking with fire. We used to mark things with fire to understand who owned them, and that has evolved over time. Today, a brand means much more than just who owns it. It means identity, it means origin, it means and it has value too, right? Today, brands are what are sold, and you're not necessarily selling a factory; you're selling a brand, something that was built over time and has an intangible value that is basically what gives that brand its strength and reputation. And a country brand, right?, which is what we've come here to work on today, is much more about you towards the government than the government towards you. And that's why your commitment today to helping us build this is so great, because at the beginning many times you say, "Well, I'm going to have a country brand to see how this can strengthen my product." But it's not so much about you going to us, but rather a matter of collaboration and of you seeing this as a long-term strategy so that while the country strengthens its brand nationally, firstly because we ourselves have to be convinced, and secondly internationally, we will be able to ensure that our brand becomes increasingly well-positioned abroad. And here's an example of countries that have already done it, and often with this exercise we have here, we think about pasta and a country immediately comes to mind . We think of vodka, we think of olive oil, we think of luxury watches and all of that is directly associated with a country that has already done it, has already done it consistently, has already done it routinely and has already done it with discipline in the past. When we think of coffee, we already know what is related to coffee. And that's where we have to see what we want to be related to Paraguay. And there are many options. Paraguay has a tremendous diversity of tourist attractions. It has a tremendous diversity of what are the natural resources that we have as a country. We have a huge opportunity to take advantage of the 300 million people living on either side with connectivity, not only to offer competitive products, but also to offer experiences such as cultural experiences. And that is why the country brand in any other context functions as a country positioning strategy. And with that positioning strategy we seek to attract investment, we seek to attract tourists, and what we seek with that is to export products and also export culture. We have a culture in Paraguay that has a lot to do with gastronomy, it has to do with other rituals that can also be exported products. Or are you going to tell me that oriental food isn't known throughout the world today, or that the whole world doesn't have Peruvian restaurants, right? So, in that sense, the country brand encompasses much more than just participation in a trade fair. This means a construction and co-creation among everyone. And that's why the narrative always has to be a joint one, it has to be the public sector. That's why we need to see ourselves united here, working together. It has to come from civil society, from the unions that represent the people, and it has to come, of course, from the private sector, because you are the ones who will ultimately strengthen and push this forward. And Paraguay is doing it. We already have positive results in terms of the growth of our positioning around the world. This year we moved up six positions in the Global Soft Power Index. We moved up from 84th to 78th place, and in terms of sports, because we are also trying to attract sporting events, the rally helped a lot to make this happen. We moved up four positions in Leadering Sports from position 40 to position 36 and that's where we understand that we are all going to make the brand together. We launched the industrial revolution this year in Paraguay, and far from being a strategy focused solely on technical aspects—which are important, such as financing, land-use planning, and capacity building—it's something that focuses much more on the mindset. And the mindset is where I believe we face a great challenge, which is why these kinds of meetings are so important. They allow us to talk amongst ourselves and share the challenges each of you faces, because I'm sure that for every one of your challenges, regardless of the industry you 're in, there's someone else going through the same thing or who has already faced it, and together we can try to address it. This industrial revolution is a mental issue in which we have to challenge ourselves in order to be able to tell our success stories. So if that person has already done it, why can't I do it? and in that way collaborate to move forward together . And it started, they help a little with the Yes, but it started even more. Well, then the presentation started, but I wanted to tell you that Paraguay has also attracted the world's largest country branding event to be held this year for the first time in history in Paraguay, and that will be in November. On November 18, 19, and 20, each of you will receive an exclusive invitation to this event where professionals from around the world will be presenting on how to create global brands. We will also be hosting 17 delegations from around the world who will be there to collaborate with you and engage in executive networking. This will allow you to hear the stories of these delegations and, through this, try to continue their success stories—stories that often include many failures along the way, but ultimately, we all aim for the same goal: to start creating regional brands that can then become global brands. And that is why, within the process of what we are developing as a ministry, we are starting closer and closer. Previously we participated in European and Asian trade fairs. Today we are changing that so that we can start participating in regional fairs, participating in fairs like Fespo Cruz here in Bolivia, and dividing Brazil into states, right? Participating in fairs in Paraná, also participating in fairs in Formosa, in Corrientes, so that in that way, as Cintia from Tatacuá said, we can start little by little, trial and error, and many times the productive capacities that we have are not enough to say, well, I am going to go out and contribute to Brazil. But they do give you something to say, perhaps, "I'm going to start a supermarket chain in Parana." And so we are building it step by step and with great confidence. And the other issues we have so that we can invite you to this co-creation process, because we want these meetings to be routine, and we want them to be working sessions, and we want them to be co-creation. In October we will have a launch of the campaign for the country brand in Paraguay, which will be a series of workshops where we will work together and we will give you a calendar of communication strategies where the idea is that we want each of you to be the influencers within Paraguay for what is our country brand. So, whatever we can produce in terms of country imagery, rebranding, or anything else, in these types of videos we saw earlier, we hope you can support us, because we have to start from within. We need to generate that trust, and within yourselves, since you are already leaders in each of your industries, and adding all the officials we have, we have an exponential capacity to multiply communication. In November, as I mentioned, the Ibero-American Country Brand Forum will take place, where all of you will receive special invitations for training, business meetings, export promotion, value-added activities, and competitive intelligence. In November, Paraguay Business Week will also take place in Ciudad del Este. Each of you will also receive a special invitation from the government to participate in December with the BIT. Thank you very much Alonso for your continued support. We are going to launch a platform from Paraguay to the world and we will proceed with the delivery to new licensees. Thanking once again the presence of the President of the Republic, Santiago Peña. Ministers present, we ask that only one representative per company please come to receive this recognition, and in this way we also renew the commitment of the companies that are already with us. We ask for a representative from the Netherlands of UIP for the campaign Paraguay like you, Maasa, Tres Leones, Impasa. Yes, we want them to come in. At this moment, recognition is given to several organizations from Paraguay: Ilagro, Nice, and Kemsa. We take a photograph. If the team helps me, then the next five companies would be Luminot, so that Paraguayan services and companies are not only recognized within our country, but can also project an image abroad associated with the quality, innovation, identity, and productive potential of the country. [applause] Tataca Lighting. Germany Packagim, Himsa, Superespuma, Capace, Maestro. The companies Nanotec, Editorial Atlas, Fluid, Tony G and the Gran Hotel del Paraguay are also preparing. We take the official photograph. We also request the presence of the following companies: Ecocur, Net Logic, BMA, Ñaustaquia, Indio. We request the official photograph, the following group: Ecocur Net Logic BMA. Naustaquia, Atlas Publishing House. [applause] We also ask that Ecocur Net Logic be prepared. We thank all the companies that are joining us today. Here are the companies Indio Net Logic. Here are the companies Indio Net Logic. We request the official photograph, the San José herb. Thank you very much, Felipa Hom, Veropardo, Casa María. to the Iron Man Asunción event. We also requested a representative. The brands Wisner Chocolates and María Sonia Gauto are also preparing, as well as the Hidro Water Show event, which will also have a representative. We are going to ask the minister, please, to move to the middle of the photograph. Now we proceed to the official photograph. We also thank these companies, [applause] so far this year, the program has been expanding its network of licensees in March. 19 national companies received or renewed their licenses, while in June another 32 brands belonging to sectors such as food, agribusiness, manufacturing, services, diagnostics and agricultural production were incorporated or renewed. Holy Home and Maura Martí are also joining. Companies that are taking Paraguay to the world, others with potential, also very eager. I ask the Marca Paí team if they can confirm that all the licenses have been delivered, along with the Vice Minister of Redx , Eduardo Gust, for this recognition for Lievito. We take the official photograph. A round of applause also for these companies. [applause] We have one more company, maestro. We have Mango Rojo to close this licensing roundup. The representative is approaching to complete this closing ceremony, the delivery of licenses, a truly historic moment for the Paraguay Country Brand . Thank you all for joining us today. We also thank all the authorities who are with us . With this applause [applause] we are going to receive the words of the most excellent Mr. President of the Republic, Santiago Peña. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much. Welcome everyone. Truly a great way to start the week. with an eye toward the future of Paraguay. You are the ones building the future, but that future is impossible to build if we do not first understand where we are coming from, because today Paraguay is beginning to capture attention at a regional and global level. The media, social networks, and content creators seem to be discovering this long-kept secret. I always say that one of Paraguay's greatest strengths is that it's coming from behind. If we think that the development of a society, of a nation, is literally a race. It is a race that is run not by the government, not by the private sector, not by the unions, but we all run that race together. The country is doing well, not when there is a good government. The country is doing well, not when a company is doing well. A country does well when the whole of society decides to run in the same direction. And that's impossible, isn't it? Looking at Paraguay through the lens of a film. What is the film about Paraguay? And we can watch a movie from the last 15 years, we can watch the movie from the last 35 years, we can watch the great movie of a society that has its origins almost 500 years ago. From that clash of two civilizations, the Guarani that inhabited this part of the continent and the European culture, the Spanish, which arrived here in 1537. And from that moment this region showed differences, very clear differences. It was said that the Paraguay region was different, and many people had a hard time really understanding why it was different. And of course, I don't know how many of you are familiar with and have been to the Jesuit reductions in Trinidad, but the place is truly wonderful because it forces you to try to project yourself or go back to that time when a utopia was created, a perfect world, a world where everything was possible, and it was thought that this was simply the work of the Jesuits. The Jesuits came and did something in Paraguay, which is why they were expelled from Paraguay at some point. But that experiment continued. That experiment continued. Around 1700, Paraguay was already trying to become an independent nation. In 1811 it won its independence and that nation project had a very very prosperous start. The years of the Republic of Paraguay demonstrated that there was a gigantic potential. There was something here in Paraguay that allowed things to flow, that allowed progress, that allowed development. And that project of Carlos Antonio López, later with Francisco Sodano López, had to face a gigantic adversity, an adversity that few countries have had to face. That tremendous war, the War of the Triple Alliance, brought Paraguay to the brink of extinction , but in reality, it did not extinguish the Paraguayan cause, it did not extinguish the spirit of the Paraguayans; it simply stopped that process, and it literally stopped a process that many nations were able to continue, many nations advanced while Paraguay remained in that race of progress. We still struggle to understand what happened between 1864 and 1870. But little by little we are beginning to understand more and more, and we understand it in this great story that Paraguay is currently experiencing . This film, which took us from the beginning of 1900 to having to rebuild a nation from its very foundation, to have the concept of institutions again, a second half of the 20th century, where we began to recover much of the lost ground and that necessarily leads us to the shorter film that I say is that of the last 35 years. The last 35 years have been a time of tremendous progress in Paraguay, and the most important advance is understanding that there is no limit to what we can achieve, because we live by setting and imposing limits on ourselves. And that's largely because we saw the race of progress, we heard it on the radio, we saw it on TV, we read it in the newspapers. We saw progress in Brazil, we saw progress in Argentina, we saw progress in Uruguay, we heard about progress in Europe, in North America, and we believed that progress would never come to Paraguay. And what we realize is that we were running way behind in that race of progress, and in recent years that gap has been closed. Because? And why has Paraguay been progressing faster than the rest of the countries? So, little by little we have been demonstrating that Paraguay is not a country that, due to conditions that are difficult to explain, is simply condemned to a situation of less development and progress than the rest of the countries. On the contrary, we began to prove to ourselves that we have to stop repeating that, that when there is a Paraguayan who does something beautiful, competitive, innovative, we used to colloquially repeat, "He doesn't seem Paraguayan." Or when we saw a private investment, this doesn't seem Paraguayan. We grew up with that. We grew up with that, and I recognize that this process has been changing over the last few decades. I recognize that 2011, that bicentennial year, and many of you will remember, it's been a long time since then, 15 years, but 2011 was a year where Paraguayans felt great pride, it seemed that we united as a society through that feeling of identity of the bicentennial. And we have seen, and I want to acknowledge because the Paraguayan Industrial Union, with this concept of the Paraguayan as you, has instilled that feeling of pride in what we Paraguayans do or what is done in Paraguay, because Paraguay, since colonial times, has been a country and we Paraguayans have been a race that has opened its arms to foreigners. We have opened our arms to those who want to progress, to those who want to produce, and to feel that they too are part of this homeland. All of this has been happening in Paraguay over the last few decades. I have lived this, I have lived throughout my public life, in the different instances that I had to be in, seeing how that Paraguay of the past that had us trapped was getting weaker and weaker and the Paraguay of the future is growing stronger and stronger. On August 15, 2023, I set myself the goal of accelerating that process, accelerating that force that is happening, a force that causes us pain. We have to recognize that the growth process, the development process, is a painful process. Even a growing child experiences pain during growth; it hurts when the bone is developing, when the muscles are stretching. Growth and development cause pain. Now, the question is, what do we do in the face of that pain? Do we stop or do we move forward? And we made the decision, and I made the decision to move forward in that development process, to go out and show the world the potential that Paraguay has, to challenge Paraguayans that we cannot be complacent, that everything Paraguay has done, everything you have done over the last few years, which has not been easy, is nothing compared to everything we have to do ahead. What does that mean ? That there is still a long way to go for Paraguay in the race for development. And the question is, how long is that race? And the question is, where do we want to aspire to? Our aspiration is, and well, I want to be as developed as Argentina is. Or one might think, one wants to be as developed as Brazil, which is a giant country next to us, or why not try to be as developed as Uruguay and Chile, which are the two nations on our continent with the highest level of development, or perhaps we want to be a little more ambitious and say, I want to be as developed as a member country of the OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the club of the most developed countries in the world. And I look at Paraguay, I look at what we Paraguayans have inherited, because we have inherited this, we did nothing to have 40 million hectares of arable, cultivable land, to have an ecosystem that allows us to have three harvests a year. We didn't do anything to deserve that. We earned it, we inherited it. We didn't earn it, we inherited it. We did nothing to deserve to be sitting on one of the world's largest freshwater reserves. We have rivers that defy that old myth that Paraguay is a landlocked country. We have absolutely all the necessary conditions. We have something that is very, very difficult to change. Today, technology is capable of modifying practically everything. They think they will be able to cure virtually all diseases in the next 10 years. But there is something that technology cannot find, and political regimes, however authoritarian they may be, cannot modify people's behavior and especially demographic development. Paraguay is literally sitting on a people mine. A population with an average age of 28 years is the lowest average among all Latin American nations . A country that has certainly seen its birth rate decline, but we still have a rate that is above average, the replacement rate, and that is a great opportunity. And in this race to development that we have been running from behind, we Paraguayans today have the possibility of seeing what has worked in many societies, many societies that have advanced, that have progressed, but that have also made many mistakes. Arthur Laffer is a very famous economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economics for developing this theory that governments, in their eagerness to respond to citizens' demands, have to keep increasing taxes, and that increasing taxes is simply responding to social demands. People always want more public services. So, what do we do? We collect more taxes. But the Lafer curve, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, shows that there comes a point where, when we increase the tax rate, far from increasing revenue, it begins to decrease. And this seems like such a logical concept. And he, at almost 90 years old, travels the world. He was in Spain a few days ago talking about how Spain, which was a country that was really progressing in a tremendous way, 40, 30 years ago, is now on the verge of collapse and we see it with this wave of Spanish immigrants coming to Paraguay. And that should force us to reflect on the opportunity we have as a country, the opportunity we have to understand that there is no limit to what Paraguay can achieve, that we genuinely— and this is not a matter of being dreamers, arrogant, or simply deluding ourselves with the possibility that Paraguay can be the most developed country in the world. I am convinced that Paraguay has, because we have, conditions that are practically unrepeatable in other parts of the world. Now, to all that we have received, to all those inheritances, all that path, all that component, we can even call it that genetic component that we have received from our ancestors, the Guarani, of being a kind people, of being a people who understand that being good to foreigners and welcoming foreigners is really something positive, of being supportive. Having this identity is something we must preserve precisely so as not to lose it in future generations, because the reality is that Paraguay faces the same problems that other societies worldwide have faced, more developed societies that are now finding it very difficult to do better. We have the opportunity to do better. Paraguay has the opportunity to be a prosperous nation, to understand this balance between the public sector, the private sector, between social demands, and to have a welfare state. What is a welfare state? A welfare state means that all inhabitants of this nation, regardless of whether they were born in Paraguay or decided to come to Paraguay, have a set of benefits—health, education, security—that is the same for everyone. And that's a very good thing. Now, the question is whether, in that endeavor, we are going to put at risk the one who creates the conditions to be able to develop that. And this simply boils down to this tax equation, this equation of a relatively small government that allows the private sector to develop. I believe that is the great challenge facing Paraguayan society, businesspeople, the public sector, and us in the political class, because this opportunity we are experiencing is to showcase Paraguay, to showcase Paraguayan products of quality, competitive, with quality standards, and we do not feel intimidated by any standard in the world under any circumstances. We can compete, we are willing to compete. Because? Because we are efficient, because we are competitive, because we as a country also decided to play as a team. And playing as a team means understanding that the government needs the private sector and that the private sector needs the government, that the government cannot innovate like an entrepreneur, that the government cannot go and manage a sale with a client at an international level, just as in the same way it is difficult for the entrepreneur to go and unblock when there is a government that, in order to defend its industry, blocks the international market. That's a job we have to do together. So, I want to tell you that, according to all the statistics we've seen over the last 60 years, Paraguay is the country that took Uruguay the longest, 5 years ahead. It took a decade for Chile, which is a regional and global benchmark. A decade. And we are doing it in 3 years. So, what does that tell us? Because we all agree, Paraguay can still grow much more, it has to grow, it will grow much more. This means that Paraguay will have the best social indicators, the lowest levels of poverty in Latin America and worldwide. But how is that achieved? No, with social programs, or rather, if it can be achieved with social programs, with the best social program, job creation. And the jobs aren't going to come from the public sector. Jobs will come from the private sector. And the jobs aren't going to come from the public sector. Jobs will come from the private sector. A private sector that has to be competitive, that has to be efficient. One sector is a great opportunity to import capital goods. It's a great opportunity to import capital goods where they drop in price by a quarter, a quarter, 25% cheaper, all of which are capital goods, which we know are fundamental for industry to gain that competitiveness. This is a job that no one can do alone, but if we have the humility and openness to say, " Let's all work together," we will have an increasingly accessible Ministry of Industry and Commerce, a National Tourism Secretariat that understands that tourism is probably one of the most important smokeless industries in the world, and that for Paraguay, there is a world of opportunity. A few months ago, we received a visit from Prince Albert of Monaco, and we took him to the Jesuit reductions for dinner. He told me, "I can't believe what I 'm seeing. I ca n't believe it." I mean, if someone had told me that something like this existed in any country in the world, I wouldn't have been able to believe it. And many Paraguayans, and those who live in Paraguay, don't know about the Jesuit reductions of Trinidad. So, I think the coming years will be decisive, fundamental, crucial for us to continue challenging ourselves and daring to demonstrate that Paraguay has all the necessary conditions, that what this country is experiencing is not simply a stroke of luck , that what Paraguay is experiencing, and again this Last week, the Central Bank of Paraguay published this year's growth figures. In the seventh month of this year, the economy is growing at 5.6%. Last year's growth of 6.6% was triple the growth rate of all other Latin American economies combined. Paraguay is on this path of growth and development, but this always puts us at a crossroads. Do we shift gears to accelerate and move upward, or do we simply repeat many of the mistakes made by other countries and societies where we make bad decisions? The reason countries that have fared poorly isn't that they did poorly because they made bad decisions, or because they were unlucky. Countries succeed because they make good decisions, and countries fail because they make bad decisions. And that is a shared responsibility among us all. And that is what I believe we need to focus on right now: working on what we are doing well and avoiding what could tempt us to make a mistake. But I assure you that Paraguay has all the conditions to be a giant. A production platform for the world, for industrial agri-food production, has enormous potential to be a logistics hub for the Southern Cone. It has tremendous potential to become a services hub and tremendous potential to be one of the cars on the train of new technology, which is artificial intelligence, that will allow all industries to experience tremendous exponential development, placing Paraguay at the top of the list of the most developed countries in the world. So I want to thank all of you for the effort you make every day and encourage you not to give up. There are no shortcuts, and you know this better than anyone, there are no strokes of luck, there is only effort, sacrifice, and it requires what people often want to acknowledge: perseverance. Perseverance. To persist on the path. We may fall, of course we may fall, but we have to keep going, we have to continue, and at the end of the day, this is the effort of a lifetime. Thank you very much, long live Paraguay! [applause] We thank the president of the President of the Republic, [applause] Santiago Peña. This requires effort; you are the protagonists, so we are going to invite you to stand from your seats for an official photograph with our authorities. Please remain in your seats. I reiterate the invitation: in this way, the President of the Republic is participating in a meeting for the world that brings together the licensees of the country brand. This activity, which is taking place here in the Tirican Hall, seeks to highlight the work of companies and organizations that carry Paraguayan identity to different countries at this time. Again, the official photograph with the country brand. The presence of the licensees is also noteworthy. This country brand is a tool to strengthen the country's image, to promote its products and services, and to project Paraguay as an attractive destination for investment, trade, and tourism. In a few minutes, in the Buricharoga press room, we will have a press conference about C'est.