For the second time during the pandemic, the government launched a program to help the tourism sector and now also the creative industry. Through subsidies it is intended to support more than 20 thousand companies in both areas, although it is they who today ask to make sanitary measures more flexible to continue working.
The Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Consuelo Valdés, together with the Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism, Lucas Palacios, and other authorities, unveiled a new plan to support the tourism sector and the creative industry that includes subsidies and flexibility in terms of employment protection, and supporting companies related to the cultural sector. The plan includes 4 lines of work, among which are subsidies for companies, credit facilities through the FOGAPE Reactiva program, flexibilities regarding the Employment Protection Law and special programs in association with Banco Estado, which will receive about $ 5 one billion pesos.
For her part, the Minister of Culture, Consuelo Valdés, added that “in 2020 we redirected part of the budget to implement a Support Plan, which allowed us to deliver more than $ 15 billion pesos. Added to this is the Emergency Fund, announced by the president for 2021, which will allocate more than $ 18 billion for the sector, and also the 2021 Culture Funds, which have among their main emphasis the reactivation of the cultural system, counting on more than $ 26 billion for that goal ”.
Thus, during the months of February and March, the Minister of Economy mentions that the 180 billion pesos will be grouped during the first semester of 2021. Within the aid plan a subsidy program for 55 billion pesos is contemplated that companies in the tourism sector will be able to access and also in culture and the arts, which would allow financing up to 70% of the investment plans that tourism companies need.
The Seremi of Culture of the Coquimbo Region, Francisco Varas, states that “the cultural sector has been severely hit since last March by this pandemic, and a large number of artists, managers and workers in the sector have been left in a critical situation given the informality of their working conditions. These resources represent a great help for the expected cultural and economic reactivation of the country and, of course, of our region ”.
The President of the Valparaíso Chamber of Commerce and Tourism mentions that this measure does not solve the problem of the demand crisis since March 2020, so they propose the opening of premises on weekends when the communes are in phase 2 and extend the curfew hours for companies in this area, requesting greater flexibility in the measures implemented by the government.
