Worth a read... from a recent press conference.
During a press conference held in the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State referred to the process of constitutional change that Chile is undergoing. Within the framework of the activities of the London Metal Exchange week, the Mining Minister, Marcela Hernando, referred to the Mining Royalty, the National Lithium Company and possible constitutional amendments. On this last point, the Secretary of State maintained that “I would like to make it clear as a nation we are very respectful of our treaties and agreements, in Chile there is legal certainty. Therefore, companies and investors can rely on the stability of the institutions and although we are in a process of constitutional change, there are international rules that are superior to some constitutional norms. Hernando added that “the new Constitution has been a process in which I would like to highlight respect for institutionality. The Chilean people went through a moment of crisis that left no one indifferent and that is mainly motivated by great inequality. That inequity caused the Social outbreak in 2019. Although we have made progress in some things, we believe that there is still a lack of progress in equity and that implies changing the constitutional text. ”Regarding the development of the lithium industry, the Secretary of State explained that "we are thinking of a national company that brings together public and private efforts, where there are strategic partners that add and capture value for our country."royalties On the occasion, Hernando referred to the modifications that were made to the Senate regarding the Royalty, noting that “there are several observations that the industry had and that we have incorporated into the indications. What we are interested in maintaining is an average tax burden similar to that of the OECD countries”. The Mining Minister added that it is public knowledge that this measure seeks to raise 0.5% of GDP, to finance President **riel Boric's social program, which is aimed at responding to the urgent problems of Chilean families. During the day, the holder of the portfolio participated in the market opening of the London Metal Exchange, an instance in which she was accompanied by the CEO of LME, Matthew Chamberlain, and the Chilean ambassador to the United Kingdom, Susana Herrera.
