Two Mendoza Mayors Join Forces for Mining Development
The mayor of Godoy Cruz, Diego Costarelli, together with his counterpart from the City of Mendoza, Ulpiano Suarez, signed an institutional cooperation agreement with the Plan Pilares Foundation. The agreement aims to advance joint actions linked to productive, territorial and human development, with a focus on modern and sustainable mining.
The coordination between both municipalities and the Foundation will enable the development of studies, programs, projects and activities around several key areas: strengthening of SMEs and local suppliers, labor training and technical education, strategic infrastructure, environmental sustainability, links with universities and companies, and investment promotion.
Public policy, not a ceremonial formality
Costarelli was the first to emphasize the scope of the agreement: "The most important message for society is that behind this agreement there is a transformative public policy. We are not signing a ceremonial document, but rather agreeing on strategic lines for the sustainable and integral development of Mendoza".
Suarez agreed with the diagnosis and added a perspective on the institutional moment the province is experiencing: "We usually sign many agreements, but this one in particular comes with a strong commitment to work with our management teams. Mendoza has a great opportunity ahead and the challenge we face is growth. Some time ago, the challenge was to put the Province in order, to get the State working again, to balance the accounts, and we have achieved that since December 2015. We understand order as a starting point for what comes next: a stage of growth and development based on mining and other productive activities".
The mayor of the capital city also thanked Costarelli for holding the signing ceremony in Godoy Cruz and raised the central challenge of the agreement: "The challenge is how prepared we are for mining development to generate opportunities. Success is not defined by how many resources we extract, but by how prepared our network of companies, SMEs, young people and professionals were to transform mining development into opportunities".
The role of local governments in the macroeconomic context
Suarez placed the agreement within the limits and possibilities of municipal management: "Local governments have few tools to influence macroeconomics; we lack borrowing capacity or a budget like the Province's, but we can contribute to creating a better business climate, support training and skills development for employment, and strengthen our SMEs so they can integrate into the value chain that will be consolidated through mining".
He also offered a perspective on territorial integration: "Mendoza must grow in an integrated way, both with other sectors of our productive matrix and with territorial integration. This coordination must also be a message to the rest of society and leadership: when we remain in confrontation, nobody wins. This agreement will translate into opportunities for our SMEs, young people and professionals, not just from the City or Godoy Cruz, but from the entire province".
Costarelli, for his part, linked the agreement to the provincial productive scenario: "Plan Pilares proposes taking advantage of the opportunities that demand for minerals opens up for the energy transition. In Godoy Cruz we decided to prepare ourselves to meet this challenge".
SMEs: the central focus of the agreement
One of the main objectives is to facilitate the incorporation of local companies into new value chains. Municipalities and the Foundation will be able to develop tools for suppliers and SMEs, and support them in their growth processes so they can meet the requirements of new markets.
"This agreement gives us a concrete framework to link with universities, boost local SMEs, train our young people and deepen our commitment to environmental sustainability," said Costarelli, adding: "It will allow us to work with the Foundation so that local SMEs can compete on equal footing".
Technical training oriented toward employment
Another central point is coordination with universities and technical centers, with the aim of directing training toward the concrete needs of the productive sector and providing residents with clear information about job opportunities and training options.
Costarelli emphasized the municipality's role in providing that information—what to learn and where to train—and summed up the core objective: "We want young people to stay and build their future in Godoy Cruz".
Financing and next steps
Through the agreement, the parties will be able to access financing and technical assistance, and promote cooperation actions with public and private entities, in addition to promoting institutional and business contributions to initiatives of mutual interest. Specific actions will be defined through targeted agreements, which will establish objectives, responsibilities, timelines and financing mechanisms for each initiative.
Costarelli closed with a summary of the long-term objective: "I aspire for this process to consolidate companies capable of reaching new markets, expand worker opportunities and strengthen local capacities that drive development over the coming decades". Along the same lines, he noted that preparation of the productive sector must begin before new opportunities consolidate, requiring coordination between municipalities, companies, universities and specialized organizations: "This is about generating a kind of adaptation of this business sector and all its different segments to the Mendoza that is coming".
Finally, he noted that Godoy Cruz already has companies providing services linked to mining activity, a foundation on which to expand training and partnership proposals, in a scenario where training and business strengthening support diversification of the province's productive matrix.