The Minister of Economy, Development, Tourism and Energy, Álvaro García, visited the Magallanes region to support the growth of the green hydrogen industry in Chile. His visit included opening the third Green Hydrogen Educational Fair and participating in a session of the Pacto de Magallanes, a public-private agreement focused on sustainable development for this sector.
During his visit, García highlighted recent progress: “Se dio cuenta en detalle de cómo han avanzado las obras de infraestructura, cómo se ha planificado la creación de capacidades humanas, para atender los desafíos que la industria tiene, cómo se ha avanzado en crear las líneas base del medio ambiente para que esta industria se implemente bien en el territorio. Una larga lista de acciones muy concretas donde el esfuerzo del gobierno regional, del Gobierno nacional y de las empresas privadas se han sumado.”
The fair was organized by Corfo and the Regional Government as part of the Transforma Regional Hidrógeno Verde Program. It aimed to promote innovation and human capital development while strengthening cooperation between public and private sectors for high-impact projects related to sustainable growth.
At the Pacto de Magallanes session, authorities reviewed achievements from the past three years and discussed next steps for key project installations. Topics included port infrastructure improvements and road development in remote areas to ensure continued collaboration.
García emphasized: “Todo, para convertir en una realidad la industria de hidrógeno verde: una grandísima oportunidad para Magallanes, una gran contribución para el desarrollo de Chile y también para la necesidad que tiene el mundo de contar con energías limpias.”
Officials stressed two main aspects for local implementation: building an integrated ecosystem to use natural resources sustainably and maintaining institutional continuity to provide certainty for regional agreements and private investment.
The event was attended by Regional Governor Jorge Flies, Presidential Delegate José Antonio Ruiz, and representatives from leading energy companies. The pact has been signed by several ministries—Economy, Energy and Public Works; Environment; Education; Labor—and organizations such as Corfo and local producer associations. The initiative seeks complementary actions from both sectors across five strategic areas: human capacities, productive linkages, technological innovation, shared infrastructure, and balanced regional development.
While touring the educational fair’s stands with other officials including Flies and Ruiz, García said: “Chile es un país afortunado de contar con los recursos naturales que nos han permitido crecer. El desafío siempre ha sido aprovecharlo bien… Si queremos realmente ser un país desarrollado y hacerlo de manera sostenible tenemos que aprovechar de buena manera el día de hoy la colaboración. Y ustedes nos están dando una lección en ese sentido.”
Governor Flies added: “Esta es primera vez que en la historia de Chile vamos a tener un nuevo gobierno… lo más importante hoy es que es se entrega de parte del gobierno central el testimonio… podamos seguir trabajando en todos los ítems que como meta tenemos en el Pacto Magallanes…”
Presidential Delegate Ruiz stated: “El Pacto Magallanes es una instancia público-privada… pensando en el aporte que hace el Estado… Esto va de la mano con una información o con una iniciativa que tiene que perdurar como es la Feria de Hidrógeno Verde…”
The fair took place at Punta Arenas’ Interactive Game and Movement Center from November 28-29 with an expected attendance of around 2,500 people through interactive stands and technical talks aimed at raising community awareness about green hydrogen.
As part of his agenda in Magallanes, García also visited Agropat’s warehouse to highlight India’s approval on October 30 for exporting raw and processed wool from Chile after receiving bilateral certification from Indian health authorities.
