The Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism has introduced the Sustainable Productive Development Plan for Tierra del Fuego. The plan is the result of ongoing work by the Table for Productive Diversification and aims to support emerging sectors, improve public-private coordination, and address structural challenges affecting the province’s economic development.
During the fifth session of the Table for Productive Diversification, government officials presented this roadmap designed to diversify Tierra del Fuego’s productive base and enhance its sustainability in both the medium and long term. The initiative is led by the Ministry of Economy through its regional office in Magallanes, with support from the Ministry of Finance and the Presidential Delegation for Tierra del Fuego. It brings together public institutions, municipalities, agencies such as Corfo, Sercotec, Indap, Indespa, business groups, cooperatives, and private sector actors.
Analysis shows that Tierra del Fuego faces significant obstacles to productive development due to its island status, geographic isolation, small internal market size, concentrated production structure, and gaps in human capital, infrastructure, and connectivity. The local economy relies heavily on a few sectors—mainly manufacturing and agriculture—which provide most jobs and sales in the province. This dependence makes Tierra del Fuego vulnerable to external shocks or regulatory changes. Diversifying production is seen as essential for improving economic resilience.
Opportunities identified include nature tourism, local food supply chains, sustainable use of guanaco resources, small-scale mussel farming (mitiliculture), and developing suppliers linked to new strategic projects such as green hydrogen.
However, these opportunities depend on addressing issues related to territorial coordination, human capital development, infrastructure improvements, connectivity expansion, financing options, and business capacity building.
The plan was developed with input from both public and private stakeholders in collaboration with the Undersecretariat of Economy and Small Enterprises. It focuses on three main pillars aimed at supporting sustainable growth across different sectors.
Additionally, Harvard University’s Growth Lab conducted a study to strengthen Corfo’s ability to help regions like Tierra del Fuego adapt their productive structures when facing or at risk of facing economic emergencies.
Looking ahead, key challenges include consolidating governance under Corfo’s Integrated Territorial Program (PTI), deepening provincial coordination spaces, and ensuring continuity for strategic initiatives that can bring new productive opportunities.
Marlene España from the regional office of Economy stated: “We are formally delivering the Sustainable Productive Development Plan for Tierra del Fuego—an instrument we prepared from the Ministry of Economy together with public and private actors in the territory. This plan strengthens our current productive matrix but also opens up opportunities toward new development areas identified jointly with the community. What matters is that a medium- and long-term roadmap is now established for the province.”
José Miguel Campos from the presidential delegation said: “This is work we have carried out over years responding to a clear mandate from the President: move forward with productive diversification so our territory becomes more resilient rather than depending exclusively on one or two sectors.”
Porvenir Mayor José Gabriel Parada added: “What is fundamental now is that this process continues so it can lead to concrete investments for our province.”
Álvaro Vargas from Finance noted: “There is positive appreciation for what has been achieved so far; but most important is that this process continues and becomes consolidated as a policy for provincial development.”
Authorities agreed on maintaining momentum around these efforts. Both public officials and private sector representatives emphasized that successful diversification requires consistency over time along with strong institutional coordination.
