The plant was officially inaugurated on Saturday, November 17, with the presence of the Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Walker, who stressed that the new infrastructure would have a great political and social impact in the area.
He also said that the new facility would generate employment and that it was the first plant that invested more than USD $ 10 million in the Maule Region, following the closure of Iansa and Empresa Suazo.
"We have to earn the trust of the Chinese people. This is the first investment in the Maule region. So let's take care of it and hopefully it will be the first of many others," the minister said.
In addition, the Minister spoke about his recent tour to the Asian country, where he had the opportunity to meet with his Chinese counterpart and also the Minister of Customs. "They asked us for Chilean agricultural products and we see that this is just the beginning of what we can accomplish in the Chinese market. Many times we are frightened of how much volume China is going to resist, but the Chinese minister told us that this is just beginning and that we have the whole interior of China to penetrate. There are a lot of markets still to be conquered," he said.
A great sign for the Chilean fruit industry
One day before its inauguration, Ronald Bown, the President of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX), and Ignacio Caballero, ASOEX's Deputy Marketing Manager, visited the new fruit processing plant of the Gold Anda Chile group.
The representatives were received by the president of Gold Anda Chile, Sam Xie, the General Manager of the company, Shin Wei FU, and the Manager of Administration and Finance, Yue Chan, with whom they toured the new facilities of the plant and packing facilities, where they saw the different cold chambers, the production line, and the new twelve-way UNITEC machine and Cherry Vision 3.0, with a capacity to process about 6,000 kilos of cherries per hour.
At the end of the tour, the ASOEX representative said: "Having a Chinese entrepreneur invest in our country is very important because it is a sign that Chile has future projections, to create more jobs and to grow. It encourages us to think the country can have a stronger foreign trade, which means greater possibilities for all, and this is the way to do it."
Gold Anda Chile is the first fresh fruit marketing and export plant in Chile that was completely funded by Chinese capital in the Maule Region, specifically in the commune of Curico.
Source: SimFRUIT with information from Gold Anda Chile and Minagri
