The Undersecretary of Economy and Smaller Businesses, Karlfranz Koehler, attended the fourth edition of the National Meeting on Sustainability in Construction organized by the Chilean Chamber of Construction. The event took place on April 9 and brought together business leaders to discuss strategies for sustainability within the construction industry.
The meeting gathered more than 350 participants over two days. Presentations from experts highlighted case studies and provided tools for developing business strategies centered on sustainability.
Koehler said that sustainability has become a central element rather than just a concept. “The invitation that we make is to continue promoting it, participating in the development of new models, no longer as a parallel strategy, but as part of the central axis of what sustainable productive development is in construction,” Koehler said.
Claudio Cerda, vice president of the Chilean Chamber of Construction, reflected on industry challenges and said that overcoming them requires making sustainability a management tool. “In these 75 years of the Chamber, we have already shown that we can transform ourselves. Today’s challenge is to turn our industry into an engine for sustainable development in the country. Closing housing gaps, improving productivity and growing our small businesses are all things we must do so that we project ourselves into the future,” Cerda said.
For this edition, Enasoc offered differentiated content tailored to specific groups for the first time. Conrad Von Igel, manager for Sustainable Business Development at CChC, said: “Sustainable business development must be incorporated at management level but we also need to provide necessary tools to professionals working on these topics so they can take their first steps.” Gonzalo Villanueva from the Ministry of Economy also participated in a panel discussing governance, productivity and risk management related to sustainability.
Officials say this initiative aims to strengthen public-private collaboration around sustainable practices within Chile’s construction sector.
