Strong momentum in Brazil and Chile to the Bi-Oceanic Corridor Project.

Brazil is the fourth largest trading partner of Chile, beaten only by China, U.S. and Japan. And Chile is the second largest market for Brazil in Latin America: Argentina comes immediately after. With these figures in hand, President Michel Bachelet called off Brazilian and Chilean businessmen at the headquarters of the Industrial Federation of Sao Paulo, to expand trade, economic borders.
He said next to his Brazilian counterpart, Lula da Silva. Chilean Minister of Public Works, Sergio Bitar noted that this required infrastructure. He put the shaft in a project: the bi-oceanic corridor that comprise the Andean tunnel railroads and low height (between Mendoza and Valparaiso) major business capitals of MERCOSUR. For the official "the connection between Brazil, Argentina and Chile is strategic. Source: Clarín
The project includes the opening of a railway tunnel 52 kilometers in length, to be built at an altitude of 2,500 meters in the Andes, in Mendoza input and output in the region of Valparaíso, with deep water port in the Pacific.
For the Argentine Government and Bachelet and is a work of "national interest". In the case of Brazil there are also reasons to look favorably on plan. First, because railroads are joining the Argentine and Chilean.
Then it can increase the volume of goods transported in 10 times the current capacity in tonne-year trade from the Atlantic to the Pacific Argentine Brazil and Chile. And finally, because in the business consortium that kicked off the project is the Brazilian Odebrecht construction company that holds the largest South American works.
Who had the first idea was the Corporation America (Eduardo Eurnekian presiding), with Hugo Eurnekian to the head. Immediately, the clan Argentine Chilean partners sought: then folded Urenda shipping. He joined European and Japanese companies and soon joined Emilio Odebrecht.
The truth is that on Tuesday, when the Chilean landed in St. Paul Bitar, immediately summoned the leaders of the consortium. They met at the Hotel Tivoli. They talked about the next steps aimed at strengthening the international legal framework and define funding options for the 3,000 million dollars it would cost to build the tunnel. At that event were the Chilean businessman Jose Manuel Urenda of ARI, the Brazilian Paulo Lacerda de Melo Sang Odebrecht and Max Santos of Mitsubishi (Japan). They were joined Eurnekian men, among them former Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa and Hugo Posse. After dinner there was a Bachelet with the business group that accompanied her to St. Paul. He spoke with Hugo Eurnekian. "We must strive to advance this project," he said in that contact.
In 2012, start of work
In a conversation with Hugo Eurnekian, coordinator of America Corporation, the employer told this newspaper that are already defined the next steps.
"The feasibility studies were delivered in March the government of President Michel Bachelet and Fernandez de Kirchner. The next step is to finish the first draft and then be called an international tender for construction of the tunnel said Eurnekian.
This phase includes the financial engineering that account for this, with advice from the Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF), a large regional bank lending capacity. Clarin asked what advantage will the call to the international tender, as are the owners of the idea:
The initiator consortium has up to 5% advantage over the best offer.