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GUAYAQUILMonday, November 30, 2015

This supplement to USA TODAY was produced by United World Ltd., Suite 179, 34 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0RH – Tel: +44 (0)20 7305 5678 – [email protected] – www.unitedworld-usa.com

A model for economic progress

During his fifteen years in power, Mayor Jaime Nebot has overseen the unprecedented social transformation, urban regeneration, and economic development of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s most populated city and home to the

country’s busiest port. His enduring popularity serves as a testament to the successful realization of his vision of the city as a model for urban renewal

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L ocated in the Gua-yas province, Guay-aquil’s position in the south-western section of Ecuador,

by the Guayas River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean, means it is home to one of the busiest ports in Latin America and the Caribbean. Tourism, business, and agriculture are also accountable for the city’s residents and companies. Nicknamed “the pearl of the Pacific,” Guayaquil is the larg-est and most populated city in Ecuador, eclipsing even Quito, the nation’s capital.

While the city’s vibe is thor-oughly modern, Guayaquil has a long history. Founded in 1534, it spent almost 300 years under Spanish control, until the city’s army overthrew the Spanish forces and declared independence the October 9, 1820 before it went on to help other cities declare their inde-pendence as well. Guayaquil’s pride in its role continues to-day, and the city’s flag flies as much as the national flag.

“Guayaquil will never give up the right to the freedom to decide, the fairness to receive, or the creativity to progress,” proclaims the city’s mayor, Jaime Nebot, now in his 15th year as mayor. He also points out that the city’s independent attitude does not overrule its commitment to Ecuador; ev-erything his administration does aligns with Ecuador’s “national framework”.

Nicolás Romero Sangster, General Manager of the Guayaquil Airport Author-ity (AAG), describes further the city’s role in later history, “Guayaquil gave birth to [for-mer president of Ecuador] Eloy Alfaro’s liberal revolu-tion and all progressive revo-lutions. It was from the city that we promoted civil rights, women’s equality and rights to vote, social justice and liberty.”

Economics: Guayaquil’s spirit of independence factors in its entrepreneurial climate.

There is no doubt that the city leads the nation in economic indicators, and private-public partnerships and protections for the pri-vate sector feature in its economic success. The lo-cal authority encourages in-vestment and development, and decisions in business are made quickly.

Mayor Nebot reaffirms, “The state must guarantee access to markets.” All par-ticipants in a business ven-ture are up-front. “Here, we

respect everyone, and we also demand respect. We are responsible for our successes and our failures.”

The mayor warmly wel-comes foreign investment, saying, “We respect and have always respected legal secu-rity; we offer clear rules and have a municipality admin-istration that promotes and welcomes foreign investment. We are always there willing to help and support prosperous relationships that can lead to the best venture partnerships.”

The city also benefits from the mayor’s smart foreign ne-

gotiations. He has secured fi-nancing from the World Bank and the European Central Bank at favorable, competi-tive rates.

Guayaquil is home to Ecua-dor’s principal port, which this year was ranked by the Eco-nomic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean as the eighth busiest port in the Caribbean and Latin America. The port accounts for approximately 83% of the nation’s non-oil imports.

“It is evident that the long standing history of entrepre-neurship is more alive than ever. Guayaquil is also positionsing it-self strongly in the tourism sector, as a city to be seen, to be enjoyed and to be visited, with award-winning airports, hotels and hidden gastronomy to fall in love with. It also plays host to world-class international events hosted at the Conference Center ‘Expo Guayaquil’.,” adds Mr. Nebot.

Mayor of Incluvise GrowthMr. Nebot is in his fourth consecutive term as Guaya-quil’s mayor. His long-lasting popularity is testimony to his vision of the city as a model of urban development.

His crusade for betterment began before his mayoral career, when he was first governor of the Guayas province. After leav-ing the governorship, he was the province’s congressional rep-resentative until winning the mayor’s seat in 2000. Through-out his political career, he has worked to continually improve his city, province, and country.

And he has succeeded. Since beginning his first term, the city has seen sig-nificant improvements in its water and sewage services, a remarkable success that to-day has led to nearly 100% coverage within popular neighborhoods making the city a leader in Ecuador. This has been thanks to the work of EMAPAG, the regu-lator of drinking water and sewage management, and Interagua, a private service provider that has been tak-ing care of the water supply since 2001.

Speaking about the devel-opment of the water system, Oscar García Poveda, CEO of Interagua, says, “I think we have taken a giant step, be-cause 12 to 15 years ago, the city had neither this service, nor the coverage, nor the qual-ity. Today, Guayaquil is the Ecuadorian city which effec-tively ensures drinking water for 100% of the municipality.”

The transport system is an-other important component of the city that has dramati-cally improved during Mayor Nebot’s tenure. Guayaquil re-ceived its first rapid-transit bus

system in 2006, the Metrovía. It has since become one of the principal and cheapest means of transportation in the city.

Another feature of Mayor Nebot’s legacy vis-à-vis public transport was the rehabilita-tion of Terminal Terrestre in 2002, which had been in a state of deterioration for many years. The bus terminal is now the beating heart of Guayaquil’s public transport system and is used by 25 million people a year. Eduardo Salgado Man-zano, General Manager of the Fundación Terminal Terrestre, says that the terminal has had

an enormous social and eco-nomic impact on Guayaquil since the rehabilitation, which also included the construc-tion of a mall and food court, making it a popular a vibrant shopping – as well as transport – hub for the city.

Alongside an improved bus network, the construction of bridges across the Greater Guayaquil area has also been vital to the development of a modern, world-class trans-port system. The next to be constructed will be 780-metre high bridge across the Daule River, connecting Guayaquil

with the town of Samboron-don. Costing $83 million, the new bridge will significantly al-leviate traffic on the National Unity Bridge located further south and will have access for cars (four lanes), bicycles and pedestrians.

Already home to the José Joaquín de Olmedo inter-national Airport, which is known for winning inter-national awards in its cat-egory thanks to its friendly operations and its custom-er-centric focus, Guayaquil will also have a new airport approximately 30 kilometers south of the city to handle the steadily increasing air traffic, as the city attempts to lure more tourists, par-ticularly from the United States.

The success of Guaya-quil’s ground transporta-tion system, the ‘Metrovia’ (a bus rapid transit system),

has led to the development of an air travel initiative: the $125 million Aerovía project, a cable-car trans-port system running at 17 kilometers per hour and 30 meters above the ground, which will have two lines connecting Guayaquil with the neighboring towns of Samborondon and Duran.

Offering breathtaking views of the city and its environs, the Aerovía (which will take two years to complete) is bound to be a hit with tourists.

With well preserved his-toric buildings, such as the Metropolitan Cathedral, beautiful green spaces, and Malecon 2000, a 2.5-kilometer broad way along the Guayas River, the city has become the top destination for tourists in Ecuador. Mayor Nebot invites travellers to “visit Guayaquil, to observe its progress, experi-ence its gastronomy, its hotels, its award winning airport”, as well as to visit the Guayaquil Convention Centre, a 25,000 meters-squared arena which hosts concerts, art exhibi-tions, business conferences and the annual International Gastronomy Fair.

Guayaquil is also on the fast track to becoming a smart city, as a result of the Digital City Project, which aims to provide the city with several digital ser-vices. The project entails con-necting hospitals and clinics, providing e-government solu-tions and investing in comput-ers, tablets and Internet access for public schools and univer-sities. The plan also includes the setting up of 6,000 WiFi hotspots across the city.

Over the past 15 years, Guay-aquil has become a much better place for tourists and residents alike. The hard work received recognition on a global scale when the United Nations des-ignated the city as a model for urban renewal in 2003. Thanks to Mayor Nebot, Guayaquil truly is “the pearl of the Pacific”.

“We respect and have always respected legal security; we offer clear rules and have a municipality administration that promotes and welcomes foreign investment. We are always there willing to help and support prosperous relationships that can lead to the best venture partnerships”

JAiMe NeBOT,Mayor of Guayaquil

A UNITED WORLD SUPPLEMENT PRODUCED BY: Karla Arteaga, Country Director; Oscar Crespo Madrid, Editorial Director; Rodrigo Condines, Editorial Coordinator; Fatima Ruiz Moreno, Regional Director

2 Monday, November 30, 2015 Distributed by USA TODAYGUAYAQUIL


Annual tourist arrivals swell to 1 million

G uayaquil is Ecua-dor’s largest city, with a thriving manufacturing base, but rival-

ing this dynamic commercial activity and growing in tan-dem over the last decade has been the city’s blossoming tourism sector. From a tropi-cal climate and rainforests within a 30-minute drive to shiny new infrastructure like the Malecon 2000 riverside boardwalk (one-and-a-half miles of pure tourism delight featuring museums, gardens, fountains, shopping, restau-rants, bars, river cruises and South America’s first IMAX theater), Guayaquil has it all.

And it’s not just Ecua-dorans who are in on the secret. The city is drawing a growing number of visi-tors from abroad, many of whom arrive on one of the many cruise ships that pull into port each year. Today, the Pearl of the Pacific at-tracts over a million annual visitors. These travelers have learned, as Gloria Gallardo, Director of Public Enter-prise for Tourism and Civic Promotion, says, “Guayaquil is unique”.

In 2011, residents voted on the city’s top seven at-tractions under a promo-tional campaign titled “The Seven Wonders of Guaya-quil,” choosing architectural marvels spread through the urban spread that were most emblematic of Guayaquil’s

rich history and modern transformation. Along with the Malecon 2000 (which sits on the site of the famous meet between Simon Bólivar and José San Martin during the country’s War of Inde-pendence), Guayaquil’s na-tives identified the historic Las Peñas neighborhood near the boardwalk with its pastel-colored, colonial wooden mansions reminis-cent of New Orleans French Quarter. No less than 11 Ec-uadoran presidents once re-sided in what is the city’s old-est neighborhood. Nearby is a third wonder: the semi-circular Bolivar-San Martin monument, a lasting trib-ute to that historic meeting between South America’s famed liberators.

The remaining of the seven wonders includes the neo-gothic Metropolitan Cathedral with its impres-sive stained glass depictions of the apostles, along with the Municipal Palace and the Moorish Watchtower (topped with an Arabic Byz-antine dome). Lastly there is the Salado Estuary Pier, built in 2009 as part of Guayaquil’s urban regeneration project. It is set amidst mangroves and tropical gardens and offers visitors an idyllic outdoor area for concerts, fountains, and monuments. Indeed, thousands visit each day. The Pier’s Writers’ Walk-way pays homage to five na-tive scribes. Salado Pier also

boasts seafood square, with a food court solely dedicated to Ecuadoran maritime deli-cacies and suitably adorned with the Fish in the Water sculpture. Nearby is the grand 9th October Avenue, boasting no less than 23 na-tional heritage buildings.

Not surprisingly, Guaya-quil is fast gaining fame as a premier event and confer-ence destination. Hundreds of regional events are pull-

ing in over half a million participants each year, and the city’s authorities are in-tent on seeing these figures rise further through events like this year’s World Cocoa Summit, according to Ms. Gallardo.

“Guayaquil is going to be a major conference and convention hub. It has all the necessary ingredients. We have hotel capacity and un-congested transit routes. We have an airport that is clas-

Guayaquil is a city with a purpose, and that is to make sure its visitors have a good time. One of Ecuador’s most versatile destinations has polished its tourism act, presenting today’s visitors with a multi-tiered offering

‘This city has always been an icon of freedom and progress in Ecuador’

What is the role of Guay-aquil in the dynamics of Ecuador?

Bruno Leone, President, Servigroup: The most sig-nificant social plan a gov-ernment can implement is one which helps people to find honorable, stable and legal employment, which serves to promote dignity among individuals. Guaya-quil is the leading city in Ecuador for employment. It is a city that thrives on the work of its people. There is a saying I like to recall, and it is that “the primary social responsibility of a company is to be profitable so that it can support employment and endure the test of time.” So, the role of our city is this: to promote entrepreneur-ship, defend the freedom to work, and undertake new activities, and through these duties achieve a respectable standard of living for our citizens.

Henry Kronfle, Presi-dent, National Business Bureau: Guayaquil plays a paramount role. Firstly, it is the most populated city in Ecuador. And sec-ondly, this thriving city has historically been the driv-ing force for development in the country, regardless of the political leanings of the current government or of the money the central administration pours into the economy. This city has always been an icon of free-dom and progress in Ecua-dor, generating confidence among the economic actors established in our city, and encouraging them to con-

tinue contributing to prog-ress and well-being through various economic activities and investments.

Jorge Arosemena, Former Political Chief of Guayas Province: Guayaquil plays a significant role in all aspects of Ecuadorian life. As the most populated city and the driving motor of the coun-try, it naturally holds great influence in any political, social, economic and cultural movements in Ecuador. It is a thriving city characterized by the hard work of its citizens, making it the first and fore-most city in the country. Its location on the port makes it a city open to everyone. Here, there is a natural chemistry between Guayacos and for-eigners, who work together with the same goal of help-ing the city to grow and be-come more beautiful. We take pride in the growth and development Guayaquil has experienced in the last 25 years thanks to Mayor Jaime Nebot and León Febres-Cordero. Ours is a city with much to offer and to share with newcomers, and this is evidenced by our position as the most visited city by both native Ecuadorians and for-eigners. Guayaquil has a place for everyone.

Nicolas Romero Sangster, General Manager, Guaya-quil Airport Authority: Guayaquil has always been a leader in all the important revolutions that happened in Ecuador. It has always been the flag-bearing city, always ahead of all the fundamen-tal changes that took place in the history of this country – starting with the port-city’s declaration of independence on October 9, 1820, and then the battle against for-eign domination. After that there was the Alfaro Revo-lution, the most progressive in all Latin America. Alfaro’s Ecuador was one of the first countries to adopt the sepa-ration of church and state, to

institute women’s vote and equality, to legalize divorce, and others.

Guayaquil has always been the catalyst for the modern ideas that came from Europe against the conservative sta-tus quo, which always shut itself inside the country. And you can still notice that. While in the rest of the coun-try the concept of “21st cen-tury socialism” is thriving, in Guayaquil there is develop-ment and entrepreneurship

Rodolfo Kronfle, Presi-dent, Guayaquil Stock Ex-change: Since I was born, and for a long time, Guaya-quil has been the financial and numerically speaking, largest city of Ecuador due to a series of circumstances. Politically, even though it was not the capital, I think that it was the most impor-tant city in the country, be-cause here is where the most important revolutions in his-tory occurred.

From here came the most important leaders of histo-ry, such as García Moreno, Alfaro, who were the most brilliant representatives of political movements, which in their time were revolu-tionary. All of this, without Guayaquil being the political capital of the country.

With time and with great skill by the central govern-ment, Quito began to acquire a very important position in being the financial part of the country, because all the oil companies operating in the east had their head offices in Quito and, therefore, were taxed there. The same thing happened with leading in-dustrial companies that had settled in Guayaquil, with offers of special handouts, which over time installed their head offices in Quito, although their production bases were in Guayaquil.

Then, if we intend to ana-lyze which is the financial capital of Ecuador, which for centuries was Guayaquil, today we might get confused

and point out that it is Quito, but what is collected in Quito is not equal to what is pro-duced there. The oil is pro-duced in the east but taxed in Quito. The chocolate fac-tories produce here but the main offices are in Quito.

So, it is important to as-sess other variables. The declarations that are given in both towns reflect the so-cial economic aspects that each one has.

José Coco Yúnez Parra, Mayor of Samborondon: I believe that Guayaquil is one of the cities that have developed the most in South America over the last few years; this is indisputable. The people who know Guayaquil know that it has changed a lot; we are old enough to see the difference in the city over these past two decades. Of course there is a long way to go. It is a very big city with nearly 3 million inhabitants, which for many years have been manhandled by politi-cians, and this has caused many problems which have been gradually resolved. We have four municipalities separated by a river, but they are joined by bridges, and by tradition, culture, and history. By strengthening this greater Guayaquil area, even though we have different political views, it will turn Guayaquil into a center of really impor-tant development in Latin America.

Carla Rossignoli, Execu-tive Director Ecuador-ian-American Chamber of Commerce: I believe that Ecuador is a varied country, with diversity in many aspects. I think that this great concept enriches each and every region of the country in different ways. Feeling that we are in fact different should not be a concept that separates us. On the contrary. To be able to find that diversity or that wealth that exists according to the regions, to

get the best out of it. Perhaps when talking about Guaya-quil, at no time should we use the term regionalist, but rather we should just focus on the term diverse, because Guayaquil imposes dynamics that are different to those of the country. It is not better or worse, just dif-ferent, which means that ef-fectively due to a number of other geographic elements, this converts it into what it is – the country’s main port.

Sandro Coglitore, General Manager, Omarsa: I believe that over time, Guayaquil has been the leading city of Ec-uador in all kinds of ventures in the private sector. The shrimp and banana indus-tries were started there, co-coa and fishing are also very present here. And thanks to its port it is the driving force for both imports and exports. This is why private activity dominates over public activ-ity, unlike in other regions. The flower industry is cur-rently being developed, but it has not yet achieved the relevant volume in income of the private exporter sector.

Ivan Ontaneda, Presi-dent, ANECACAO: I al-ways say that Guayaquil is a city of 4 million traders; it is the economic engine of the country, powered by the small and large businesses and industries represented in Guayaquil. I believe that Guayaquil has a natural commercial soul. Anyone who comes to Guayaquil comes to do business at any scale, and that makes it a unique city not only in Ec-uador, but in Latin America. Very few cities that I know can be identified with the commercial soul that Guayaquil has; the people, the day to day when you walk in the center, you can identify yourself as some-one from Guayaquil, trad-ing, selling anything, that is what Guayaquil produces and transmits.

United World has gathered the opinions of some of Ecuador’s most important business and political leaders on Guayaquil’s leading role and the inherent values and traits of people from the Guayas province

“Guayaquil’s citizens are experienced and self-respecting because they know what they have achieved is the product of their own work and effort, and also that they don’t owe anything to anyone. This feeling of being a free product of your own undertakings is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the people of Guayaquil”

BRUNO LeONe, PReSiDeNTServigroup

“Guayaquil’s development model is based on the governance structure of public-private partnerships, and both sectors work towards the same goals of progress, development, liberty, democracy, order, respect for the law, and investment”

HeNRY KRONfLe, PReSiDeNTNational Business Bureau

sified as best in the world in its category. We are going to have a completely digitalized city. Guayaquil is the first city in the region to have free WIFI throughout the city, which is very important for business tourism,” she says.

In order to grow as a con-ference destination, the city has created a conventions bureau, which, through membership in international MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions)

bodies, is working to estab-lish the city as a destination. “We have just finished a mar-ket study in the convention segment, we know where we want to go and we have a strategic plan to get there.”

Once these visitors arrive, they will soon discover an-other great Guayaquil asset is its gastronomy. This city is especially concerned with its belly and foodies are in for a gastronomic journey sure to delight. Seafood and

shellfish are a daily fare in this town, which boasts a cuisine of mixed Ecuador-an, European, and Chinese influence. Shellfish and fish cebiches, fried pork, cheese dumplings, and corn and meat stews are all typical dishes. Guaya-quil now hosts a large an-nual food fair called Roots that draws chefs and visi-tors from around the world (over 60,000 visitors in the last editions).


3Monday, November 30, 2015Distributed by USA TODAY GUAYAQUILIt is precisely the city’s

well-rounded offer that is behind the new municipal promotional campaign, “Guayaquil is my Destina-tion.” Intended to emphasize Guayaquil’s tourism wealth as a long-stay destination, the promotion makes a clear statement that the city is no longer just a layover stop, but has become a worthy desti-nation itself.

The campaign, which boasts its own online pres-ence with photos, virtual tours, and smart phone apps, “aims to increase awareness

of the city’s history, its muse-ums, and its natural heritage as well as its unique gastron-omy,” says Ms. Gallardo. But, she adds, it is just as much for the city’s residents as it is for their visitors.

“‘Guayaquil is my Destina-tion’ is a concept that is ap-plied civically as well as in a touristic sense. It is the tour-ism brand for the city, but it is also a civic campaign. We have never stopped working on the civil side of things. If the people of a city do not love their city, they will not be participants in its prog-ress nor in positive change, and their participation, along with pride in their home-land, is what drives them to be part of that progress,” says the tourism director.

“So Guayaquil is my desti-nation because it is my great home, it is where I make my dreams come true, where I live with my family and where all my opportunities lie. Guayaquil is a guitar, its soccer, it is a song. It is the city by the river, the city of the estuary. It is a cradle of freedom. All of these things make this historic city unique.”

Guayaquil has an array of cultural, architectural, natural and gastronomic delights that have made it Ecuador’s number one destination

SIGHTSEEING Guayaquil has many interesting land-

marks such as the Malecon Simon Bolivar, the Barrio Las Peñas, Iguana’s Park and the city Lighthouse.

CONvENTIONSAs a new member of the International

Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Guayaquil is set to host global events and attract business tourism. It has already hosted the World Cocoa Summit and the International Poultry Convention.

BIRDWATCHINGBy creating parks through urban

regeneration and supporting animal life in the Guayas River, Guayaquil is now home to over 80 different species of birds and qualifies as an “elite location” according to the Partnership for International Birding.

TOURISM: DID YOU KNOW?

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“As the most populated city and the driving motor of the country, Guayaquil naturally holds great influence in any political, social, economic and cultural movements in Ecuador”

JORGe AROSeMeNA,former Political Chief of Guayas Province

“The people from Guayaquil are frank and direct; they don’t like wasting their time. They are bold and resourceful. But at the same time they also have an important philanthropist side to them. There is no other Latin American city with as many charities as Guayaquil”

NiCOLAS ROMeRO SANGSTeR,General Manager, Guayaquil Airport Authority

“Guayaquil is going to be a major conference and convention hub. It has all the necessary ingredients. We have hotel capacity and uncongested transit routes. We have an airport that is classified as best in the world in its class”GLORiA GALLARDO, Director, Public enterprise for Tourism and Civic Promotion

The average guy, the man on the street, Juan Pueblo: when Guayaquileans were asked to choose a mascot for their city in 1992, they chose John Doe, or in their case, John Town (Juan Pueblo). Since then, the aver-age Joe has become a symbol of Guayaquil, not surprising given the city’s working class roots and spirit of entrepre-neurialism.

But Joe, originally from a poor background, has since grown from his humble roots. Featured in the city’s promo-tional, cultural and civic cam-

paigns, he is now better dressed, sporting a white guayabera and sky-blue pants, the colors, not coincidentally, of Guayaquil, and upwardly mobile.

“He is an icon of the city, of the people of Guayaquil,” says Gloria Gallardo. “He loves Guayaquil, stands up for our biggest causes, is involved in and excited about the city’s progress and urges ev-eryone to take part in it. That is Juan Pueblo.”

Now Juan has a new part-ner (“What man can stand to be alone?” asks Gallardo), Juanita Pueblo, a symbol of

the modern Guayaquilean woman, university educated, a professional, and head of the family in many cases. “There was nobody representing our women, and that was a massive oversight, because Guayaquil’s women are part of our history, our traditions, our culture and our progress. They also form part of the city’s economic heartbeat. Guayaquil’s entrepreneurial-ism is represented in large part by women. It’s impres-sive. And nothing existed to represent this,” she explains.

Juan Pueblo appeared in public with his new girl-friend for the first time this year at the Valentine’s Day parade. Wearing a sky-blue and white dress and a tiara, Juanita was warmly received by a pleasantly surprised crowd of Guay-aquileans. “People loved her. Children, senior citi-zens, young people, every-body was lining up to have their photo taken with Juan and Juanita,” reports Gal-lardo. “She was an instant success.”

Juan Pueblo: just your average Joe

What are the set of values and traits of the typical Guayaco?

Bruno Leone, President, Servigroup: Work. Guaya-quil’s citizens are experienced and self-respecting because they know what they have achieved is the product of their own work and effort, and also that they don’t owe anything to anyone. This feel-ing of being a free product of your own undertakings is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the people of Guayaquil. We are likewise known for our charity and solidarity, our honesty and transparency. I believe that these characteristics, com-bined with our nobility, are what set us apart.

Henry Kronfle, President, National Business Bureau: Honesty, perseverance, digni-ty, order, freedom, and respect for the law. Guayaquil is the most populated city in Ecua-dor, where both native-born residents and newcomers from other areas of Ecuador live and work together. Once in Guayaquil, anyone can see that the model of our city rests on the essential nature of two-way communication between the local government and the private sector. Guayaquil’s development model is based on the governance structure of public-private partner-ships, and both sectors work towards the same goals of progress, development, liber-ty, democracy, order, respect for the law, and investment.

Jorge Arosemena, Former Political Chief of Guayas Province: As my late uncle and former president of Ecua-dor Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy used to say: “Being Guayaco is an attitude to-wards life and a lifestyle in itself ”. We are warm, welcom-ing, supportive, and friendly. The beauty of this charm is that our way of living is con-tagious and has led to great contributions to the city from everyone who comes here, be

they a foreigner or from the highlands of Ecuador.

Nicolas Romero Sangster, General Manager, Guaya-quil Airport Authority: The people from Guayaquil are frank and direct; they don’t like wasting their time. They are bold and resource-ful. But at the same time they also have an important philan-thropist side to them. There is no other Latin American city with as many charities as Guayaquil. We must not for-get that the first hospital built by the state in Guayaquil was in 1971. Until that time, it was the charity commission that was in charge of the General Hospital, the maternity unit, the hospice, the cemetery, etcetera, so the charity com-mission really took us from the cradle to the grave.

When we opened the airport, our major concern was thinking that the people would not take good care of the public restrooms, or the fish, the plants, and all the rest of the things we placed there, which are after all pub-lic property. And actually the ones who helped us the most in maintaining the air-port’s facilities were the very same people from Guayaquil, who are always interested in having an airport that is comfortable, clean, and well organized.

Sandro Coglitore, General Manager, Omarsa: It seems to me that it is very easy to do business with the people in Guayaquil. Usually, people from Guayaquil are transpar-ent – they hide nothing – and are extremely hospitable, friendly and upfront. We see these characteristics in the image that the more than 40 destinations with which we do business have of us, and that distinguishes us from our competitors. We have no reli-gious or gender problems, as can happen with other coun-tries, where some producers may receive different treat-ment to their counterparts. Here everyone is welcome.



On behalf of the Municipality ofGuayaquil, Gua-yaquil Siglo XXI

(Twenty-First Century) Fo-undation for Urban Regen-eration is a private non-profit organization that for the past 15 years has been responsible for the restora-tion, repair and rehabilita-tion of streets, monuments and public spaces con-sidered important for the both commercial and tour-ist sectors. The work of the

foundation is explained in the words of General Man-ager, Eng. Wilfrido Matam-oros, who says that it “tran-scends public works, having rescued the self-esteem of Guayaquil with the renewal of its landmarks.”

Among the most signifi-cant projects to highlight are: the rehabilitation of the banks along the Salado Estu-ary, the Santa Ana port and hill, regeneration of October 9th Boulevard and the recon-struction of parks. Special at-tention has been given to the banks of the Salado Estuary, where it has been possible to reduce the pollution caused

by the installation of sewage networks leading to the pub-lic sewer system.

Visual decontamina-tion is an important part of urban renewal, says Mr. Matamoros. What has been achieved with the burying of overhead wires, electron-ics, and telephone lines, together with the replace-ment of concrete poles with metal ones, and the paint-ing of the facades of build-ings, has completely shown a new face of Guayaquil.

Panama Street, which initially was used for cocoa farmers to dry their crops, became one of the main ar-

teries connecting the city center with the financial dis-trict. Currently, the street is undergoing major architec-tural renovation with cultural spaces also being developed. There is also the investment of large hotel chains, which have chosen Guayaquil for its tourism potential.

Plans for the construction of a Cocoa Museum, the Mu-nicipal Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Museum of Natural His-tory have been approved in order to integrate them into a ‘Promenade of the Arts’ that will also function as a place for street performers.

Echoing the sentiments of the management of the Foundation, Mayor Jaime Nebot says these works will have a knock-on effect on the economy of Guayaquil, by spurring the construc-tion industry, creating jobs and promoting domestic and foreign tourism.

To conclude, Mr. Mat-amoros confidently asserts that in the coming months, visitors can enjoy two ex-traordinary artistic works that reflect the history of Guayaquil: the Monu-ment of Guayas y Kil and the Monument of Christ of Consuelo.

Guayaquil Siglo XXI Foundation transforms the image of cityStreets, public spaces and parks are all being modernized in the city

“A major part of urban renewal involves visual decontamination”

WiLfRiDO MATAMOROS, General Manager, The Twenty-first Century foundation for Urban Regeneration

From 63% to 100% water coverage in 15 years

H ome to a dynamic economy that has flourished thanks in no small part to the

support of its local municipal-ity, Guayaquil offers its citizens a wide variety of vital social ser-vices, the most lauded of which are its high-quality water and its efficient wastewater man-agement system.

The Empresa Municipal de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Guayaquil, more com-monly known as EMAPAG, is the municipal company responsible for setting the standards of drinking water and sewage management in the city of Guayaquil. Through sensitivity to local needs and the enforcement of exacting standards, EMAPAG has been able to create an efficient sys-tem for providing potable wa-ter and sewage services to the entire city. This is especially remarkable since only just 15 years ago it was not possible to privatize municipal services such as water and waste man-agement, and as a result, these

offerings were either unsatis-factory or nonexistent.

However, since 2001, EMAPAG has become the regulator of these services, and International Water Services of Guayaquil -- also known as Interagua -- is the service provider. Together, these two companies decide on what type of action is needed and prioritize the most important investments so that the sectors in most need receive the infra-structural improvements and basic sanitation services they need. Leveraging their human resources from local popula-tions, EMAPAG and Interagua not only improve the quality of life in Guayaquil by providing access to basic services such as drinking water and a dignified wastewater disposal system, but also create jobs, provide professional training so that lo-cals can perform competently in those jobs, and stimulate the local economy through both direct and indirect em-ployment.

Among the other signifi-cant changes that have im-

proved the quality of water and waste management ser-vices in Guayaquil has been the transfer of administra-tive responsibility from the national to the local level. As of 2007, the municipal-ity of Guayaquil has been in charge of dictating the politics of the industry and oversee-ing the entity -- in this case, EMAPAG -- that regulates the technical, economic, and legal aspects of the industry, as well as managing Interagua.

Overall, since this new model of water management was established in 2001, 100% of the city has had access to running water since 2013, and by 2016, it is expected that all citizens will benefit from a dignified wastewater collec-tion system. This is all in stark contrast to the beginning of the century when only 63% of the population had access to running water, and less than 50% lived in areas serviced by a wastewater collection system.

It is important to note that all citizens of Guayaquil not only have access to clean running

water, but that they have it in their homes, as ensuring do-mestic access and high quality water were both top priorities for the municipality. Much to the pride of local authori-ties, the quality of the water in Guayaquil has not only been corroborated by tests from na-tionally renowned laboratories, but also by the satisfaction ex-pressed by citizens and the fact that the percentage of illnesses related to water consumption have drastically decreased.

As far as water treatment goes, EMAPAG received more than 200 million dollars worth of financial support from the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, as well as an additional 50 million from the municipal government in order to provide universal ac-cess to wastewater collection in the southern part of the city of Guayaquil, which is home to one million residents. As part of this undertaking, a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant will be constructed in the southern part of the city, and the sewage system from 30,000 households in the area will be repaired and or upgraded using modern, non-invasive tech-nology that will avoid having to break through sidewalks or create other similar construc-tion disturbances. In order for all of this to happen as planned, the government and various state financing and credit agen-cies have had to join forces and cross check balance sheets for what will eventually represent a $450 million investment, which includes the water treat-ment plants that will service the city and its residents.

A critical cog in the system that will ensure these goals are met, EMAPAG was estab-lished in 2012 with the aim of helping to improve basic liv-ing and health conditions in Guayaquil through ensuring efficient and high-quality water and wastewater man-agement services, as well as effective storm water drain-age. It has a solid reputation within the community and is known for its lean manage-ment and high ethical and moral standards. Dedicated to providing the best possible services, it is a company that functions closely attune to emerging community needs.

In tandem with EMAPAG, Interagua works to serve the citizens of Guayaquil. Based in Amsterdam, Interagua is a conglomerate of several Ec-uadorian and other foreign companies including Veolia, and is specialized in provid-ing potable water and basic sanitation. It’s most signifi-cant contributions are in the

realm of providing knowl-edge and know-how with regards to all aspects of the water cycle -- from collection to treatment, to distribution and disposal, right down to sales management.

Now the leading utility in Ecuador, Interagua boasts triple certification for qual-ity, occupational health and safety, and environmental management. It is among the nearly 9,000 global companies subscribed to the UN Global Compact – a voluntary initia-tive based on CEO commit-ments to implement universal sustainability principles and to undertake partnerships in support of UN goals. At the core of the company’s ethos is the idea that social responsibility means doing everything possible to lever-age skills, technology and re-sources for the greater good. It prides itself on employing best practices for the use of water, on operating sustainably.

Through its ‘We Are Water’ program, Interagua makes an effort to inculcate a culture of respect for natural resources in the local communities of Guayaquil. Through talks, workshops, conferences and other activities, children are taught about water and are shown ways to preserve and treasure this important natural resource. Likewise, Interagua’s ‘Plant Water’ project takes things a step further by encouraging chil-dren to plant trees and garner a more hands-on understand-ing of the fundamental role and importance of water in our ecosystem.

As a result of the unified ef-forts of Interagua, EMAPAG, and the municipal govern-ment of Guayaquil, the city has become a role model; it is now the only metropolis in the country where water and sanitation have a regulatory body. Although public com-panies in cities like Quito and Cuenca have also made great strides in providing greater access to basic sanitation and higher-quality offerings, the Guayaquil model is still the most revered.

In the 90s, the city’s water system left much to be desired when it came to water quality, pressure, and accessibility. This situation led the municipality to form a project to modernize and privatize services, allowing the city to begin the task of supplying drinking water and a city sewer system to the entire population.

Among the other significant changes that have improved the quality of water and waste management services in Guayaquil has been the transfer of administrative responsibility from the national to the local level. As of 2007, the municipality of Guayaquil has been in charge of dictating the politics of the industry and overseeing the entity


5Monday, November 30, 2015Distributed by USA TODAY GUAYAQUIL

Privatization has transformed the transport sector over past decade

The first thing a visitor notices after land-ing at José Joaquín de Olmedo Interna-

tional Airport in Guayaquil is waterfalls and orchids. The sec-ond is the welcoming faces of well-trained airport staff. Then, they notice the shiny cleanliness of the installations.

Voted second in its category (8-12 million passengers) in the world for the last three consecutive years, the staff at José Joaquín de Olmedo Inter-national Airport have worked hard to present their best faces to visitors. It is, after all, where their first impressions of Guayaquil are formed. As Nicolás Romero Sangster, General Manager of the Guayaquil Airport Author-ity, says, “The airport is the city’s window to the world.”

Mr. Romero says the staff are taught that passengers are the most important individu-als on the airport premises. A further emphasis is put on strict maintenance and upkeep of the terminal facilities. “The idea is to have the friendliest possible airport in order to alleviate any tensions that all passengers feel with the experience of air travel. This is achieved through the right environment, and with the right decor, but especially through thorough training for all staff so they transmit the most positive energy possible, with a constant smile and al-ways being polite,” he says.

This winning culture dates back to 2000 when Mayor Jai-me Nebot took over the reins of the city and launched a major overhaul of Guayaquil’s infra-structure. The mayor handed over the responsibility for the airport’s management to the private sector and its transfor-mation over the next decade was such that José Joaquín de Olm-edo became a regional engine of growth. Always the epicenter of Ecuador’s exports as the main maritime gateway, Guayaquil began growing its tourism sec-tor little by little with its airport expansion; and today, it is the top destination in the country.

Though the infrastructure work that was carried out was extraordinary, says Mr. Romero, its effect on the city’s residents was even more significant. “I think that the most important part of the Nebot legacy has been regaining our pride in be-ing from Guayaquil. We have recovered that strength,” he says, adding that when TAGSA, the winning concessionaire for the airport, took over, their main concern was that improve-ments to the facilities would not be respected by passengers. They could not have been more wrong. The city’s residents were the first to take meticulous care of their new installations.

Today, José Joaquín de Ol-medo International Airport is growing its passenger numbers by 14% per year and generates annual profits in excess of $20 million. Furthermore, it has managed to set aside $200 mil-lion from these revenues for the construction of a new interna-tional airport and airport city in Daular, some 25 miles from Guayaquil. And the new airport is set to become a regional cargo and transit hub extraordinaire.

Daular, the cherry on top of Guayaquil’s transformationWhen completed in 2024, the Daular international airport will be one of Latin America’s largest. It will boast three land-ing strips (there are only six airports in the U.S. that have this capacity for simultaneous landings and none in Latin America) and capacity for 18 million passengers per year. It will also be an international logistics center, in the running

with regional bigwigs like Lima and Panama.

Mr. Romero says that Daular will attempt to mimic the suc-cess of Dubai, which managed to become an engine of growth for the Emirates through cap-turing transit traffic between Europe and the Far East. Dau-lar’s cargo facilities will solidly establish it as the most impor-tant commercial airport in the country, says Mr. Romero, who stresses that Guayaquil has been prudent in its planning.

“The logical way to do things is responsibly and with a cool head. We are not building a white elephant. We have known for some time that a new air-port would be necessary but we wanted to build it when traffic actually demanded it. That mo-ment will come around 2024,” he explains.

Construction on Daular is expected to begin in 2019 and plans are for a modern, top-of-the-line, environmentally friendly facility. “Architecturally speaking, we want it to become an icon of Latin America,” says Mr. Romero. All waste-water will be recycled for irrigation and the airport will be solar powered. Wooded areas will be cultivated to absorb as much carbon emission as possible, and abundant green areas will boast flora and fauna typical of the region. The city has already invested more than $6 million in municipal upgrades for the surrounding town, which will be home to Daular’s future staff.

Watchful expansion is Guay-aquil’s catchword This emphasis on successful, yet sustainable, growth has also been a characteristic of Guaya-quil’s land transport sector, and in particular its municipal bus transport. Since its rehabilita-tion in 2002, the city’s main bus terminal, Terminal Terrestre, has experienced a remarkable revival in both passenger num-bers and local economic activity.

Comprised of the City of Guayaquil, Guayas Province Transit Committee and the Citizens Commission, the non-profit Fundación Termi-nal Terrestre (FTT) capitalized on a remodeling of the existing terminal launched by Mayor Nebot that has since converted it into a city landmark. Located in a three storey shopping mall in the north of the city, the ter-minal boasts 250 commercial outlets along with spaces for events, holiday festivities and community activities. In 2009 current general manager Edu-ardo Salgado Manzano took over the helm, and has since pushed to complete this trans-formation with a solid opera-tional strategy that has resulted in a $12 million surplus.

Today, the FTT oversees transport for 25 million pas-sengers annually, with annual revenues exceeding $18 million. Such is its success that it has be-come a reference for other coun-tries in the region, like Colombia, for the outstanding modernity of its installations, its effective use of technology in managing more than 3,000 daily routes and 65,000 passengers per day, and for a business model that has successfully combined leisure and shopping with a passenger and cargo terminal.

“A well-connected country with good infrastructure and highways is critical for the eco-nomic growth of the city. In addi-tion to the 25 million annual pas-sengers we have at the terminal, we receive another 90,000 visi-tors per day who come because of our cargo terminal, to visit the shopping center, or simply to eat and wander around,” comments Mr. Salgado Manzano. “So we actually receive around 55 mil-

lion people per year. That just goes to show the economic and social impact and importance of the main bus terminal in what is now Ecuador’s largest city and its commercial heart.”

The FTT is using its excess funds to expand, with two new satellite terminals planned for the north and on the coast. The Daule terminal, which will begin operations in 2016, will provide service to an addi-tional four million passengers and the coastal terminal will boast capacity for 3.5 million more when finished in 2019.

“Guayaquil is a port city, and historically an industrial city, with a lot of entrepreneurial-ism,” says Mr. Salgado Manzano. “The mayor has been working for years to transform it into a center for conventions, com-merce and now tourism. This successful transformation has not only given us more prestige, but also greater self-esteem, and has attracted greater numbers of visitors, who come now to see Guayaquil’s boardwalks and piers and its beautiful avenues. Now the bus terminal has be-come another feather in the mayor’s cap.”

Smooth sailingIt is true that Guayaquil has always been, and is, first and foremost a port city, and the transformation that the city has seen has not been absent in its traditional port sector. Contecon Guayaquil has been managing the Simon Bolivar Maritime Port since 2007. Con-tecon’s continual investment in infrastructure, latest technology and capacity boosting aimed at maintaining and exceeding in-ternational standards has since resulted in higher productivity levels and more efficient load-ing times, along with increased capacity to 1.5 million TEUS (20-foot standard containers). “Since Contecon took over the Guayaquil Port, there have been big improvements in opera-tions, technology, training and time management. The service of the port runs efficiently with reduced times of handling, customer service oriented and friendly with the environment” says José Miguel Muñoz, CEO of Contecon.

“We take pride in keeping the economic heart of the country and the city alive. We know that by having a world class port, we allow business to grow knowing that the international markets are within reach; the country’s

economy will be stable with for-eign investment coming; and we are promoting new investments to support our the country grow.”

The port is currently ranked ninth among the ports of Latin America and the Caribbean; and Contecon’s 20-year concession agreement allows the time for further growth. The company intends to position the Port of Guayaquil, through which pass 70% of the country’s container trade exports.

Consequently, Guayaquil’s investment in air, land and maritime transport over the last

decade has paid off in spades, not only in terms of the city’s growth, but also for Ecuador, and it has served as a benchmark in South America. This is true not only in tourism growth, but also in inter-national commercial expansion. Indeed, the city has become the main engine of economic, so-cial and investment expansion for Ecuador. Much of this suc-cess is due precisely to the city’s decision to invest in transport infrastructure.

Mr. Romero adds that Guay-aquil has long been an incuba-tor for modern ideas coming

from Europe that ran contrary to the conservative status quo in the country, and that this is still the case. While in the rest of the country the concept of 21st century socialism is thriv-ing, in Guayaquil the focus is on development and entrepreneur-ship, says Mr. Romero. This is, of course, a direct reflection of the people who reside there. Not only are the people of Guayaquil bold and resourceful, Mr. Rome-ro concludes, but they are also, “frank and direct, they don’t like wasting their time.” Nor do they like building white elephants.

Mayor Jaime Nebot’s decision to the hand the management of the José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport, the city’s main bus terminal and the Port of Guayaquil over to private firms has turned them into profit-making machines. And the companies in charge are using these profits to fund their expansion plans.

“The logical way to do things is responsibly and with a cool head. We are not building a white elephant. We have known for some time that a new airport would be necessary but we wanted to build it when traffic actually demanded it. That moment will come around 2024”

NiCOLáS ROMeRO SANGSTeR, General Manager, Guayaquil Airport Authority

An artist’s impession of the future Daular Airport



Samborondón is one of the 10 cantons of the province of Guayas. Known for its rich folkloric

traditions, robust rice pro-duction industry, and very high standard of living, it is essentially an extension of Guayaquil – the largest city in Ecuador. Since 1996, the population of the region has grown by more than 500%, and all signs indicate that it will expand just as rapidly until at least 2030.

In recent years, the region has received one of the larg-est influxes of capital in the country, partially as the re-sult of new investments and construction projects in the upscale La Puntilla neighbor-hood. Linked to Guayaquil by the National Unity Bridge and known for its exclusive gated communities, La Pun-tilla also boasts shopping malls, restaurants, bars, and over 130 private residential compounds. Its construction boom kicked off in the late 1980s, firmly marking the area’s transformation from rural outpost to suburban refuge of Guayaquil residents in search of more space and less pollution.

Despite its rapid residential development, the majority of Samborondón is mainly rural with an economy largely de-pendent on rice production and livestock, explains José Coco Yúnez Parra, the Mayor of Samborondón. “In the past, our people mainly lived from agriculture and livestock,” he says. “We are still among the largest rice producers in the nation, and we are proud to produce rice of the highest quality,” he adds, but also ac-knowledges the increasingly dualistic nature of the local economy which has created a larger gap between classes; a change which he suggests locals are adapting to with aplomb.

“We help one another and this is my greatest sat-isfaction – the unity of the canton despite the different backgrounds of our people. Here nobody is marginalized and everyone is always will-ing to lend a hand,” he says.

Further strengthening the bonds between the residents of Samborondón is the fact that they are very proud of their traditions and pride themselves on ensuring that their public spaces are rep-resentative of their culture. For instance, the Historic Park of Guayaquil, located on Avenida Esmeraldas, has a zoo, a botanical garden, and several carefully pre-served historical buildings and theatrical spaces for celebrating local customs on national holidays.

Likewise, in 2012, the Teatro Sánchez Aguilar – one of the most modern theaters in the country – was constructed on 24 thousand square meters and at an investment of $12 mil-lion. The theater seats 1,100 people and has already lent its stage to several national and international troupes, as well as student associa-tions, which all deepen the theater’s sense of importance to the community. “Urban

development is important,” says Mayor Yúnez. “But we can never lose our cultural identity. We must respect our traditions.”

As the Samborondón area continues to flourish, con-cerns such as traffic are be-coming more pressing, and in a bid to alleviate congestion, the construction of a bridge linking the area directly with Guayaquil is already in the pipeline. Once completed, the 780-meter long bridge over the Daule River is ex-pected to reduce traffic on the National Unity Bridge, which is currently the main artery between Samborondón and Guayaquil. Though resi-dents have expressed con-cerns regarding noise and dust levels during and after construction is completed, local authorities have con-ducted thorough studies on the environmental impact of the construction. In parallel, an Aerovía project is in the works to link the cantons of Samborondón and Duran (also in Guayas) to Guayaquil by cable car. Between 70-85% of this project will be funded by the local government, and the company that wins the bid to carry out the project should provide the rest.

In addition to the new bridge, the Aerovía project, and a new bus terminal that is already under construc-tion, several urban renova-tion projects are also slated to begin. Jaime Nebot, the Mayor of Guayaquil, recently announced plans to build two new water parks and to com-mission cosmetic improve-ments including a series of public murals throughout the area to celebrate the city’s 195 years of independence. The Guayaquil Digital City Project, now in its first year, is on target in terms of the scope of wireless internet ac-cess it has provided.

Affordable housing proj-ects in GuayaquilAmong the most exciting and potentially life-changing projects already underway is Mi Lote, a program that aims to decrease the hous-ing deficit, ease poverty, and stimulate economic, social, and cultural progress by providing public housing at an affordable cost to citizens in need.

Beginning in 2011, the Mi Lote program is overseen by the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism which provides a one-time housing stipend to low-income families who can then use it towards the ren-ovation of an existing home or towards the purchase of a newly constructed residence valued at between $6,434 and $30,000. All of the new prop-erties available are at least 40 square meters large and in-clude a bathroom, running water, and basic sanitation and sewage capabilities.

In what will soon become a satellite city of Guayaquil, phase 1 of the Mi Lote pro-gram launched with the intention to provide over 20,000 housing units across

an area of nearly 400 hect-ares. With a municipal in-vestment of nearly $200 mil-lion, the remaining costs of the project are being picked up by private developers who were offered land at 80 cents per square meter.

“In no other place in the country is land sold at such an affordable price,” states Carlos Salmon, the Munici-pal Director of Land and District Services, who reit-erates that Mi Lote is a proj-ect generously subsidized by the local government, and that it has something in it for everyone. It allows lower class families a fair chance at dignified housing, helps the government ensure hous-ing solutions for its growing

population, and provides investment opportunities for willing companies in the private sector. The last 1,800 units of the project were just recently handed over to their owners, and construction for Mi Lote, phase 2 is expected to last until 2018.

“In Guayaquil people like to own their own home, not to rent. So the fact that the Mayor has introduced these social projects that allow people to own their own homes is good, because own-ing a home gives a person self-esteem,” says Carlos Las-so, General Manager of Fam-bercell, one of the companies invested in the project.

As the area outside of Guayaquil sees a boom in housing and construction, Mayor Yúnez insists on the importance of planning. “We are ever vigilant of the need to grow with a certain order – not quickly, but sustainably,” he says. To this, Enrique Pita, President of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Construction, adds the importance of treat-ing construction workers with respect. “Construction does not exist without con-struction workers,” says Mr. Pita. “We need to ensure that we create an environment where these workers un-derstand the importance of what they are doing and can be proud of their accomplish-ments so that they can trans-mit these positive values onto their families.”

Of equal importance, he insists, is ensuring financial stability and securing private investments. “For construc-tion projects to thrive, there must be a certain economic calm,” he explains – the cer-tainty that there are financial resources available to fund development projects and that buyers can have access to credit. Pita also empha-sizes the importance of a legal structure that protects both buyers and builders so that they feel secure making investments in the future. He cites the case of the Czarnin-ski family, which owns several luxurious shopping malls in Ecuador and is currently back-ing the construction of El Do-rado, a commercial hub that will house the largest IMAX in Latin America, in addition to stores, hospitals, clinics, and other social services.

Ultimately, Mr. Pita ex-plains that initiative, dyna-mism, generosity, indepen-dence, and the commitment to move forward with what is planned are the character-istics that best describe the residents of greater Guaya-quil. “We like to do things for ourselves, and to turn existing opportunities into successful endeavors by resourcefully employing our skills.”

Similarly, Mayor Yúnez ex-plains that in Samborondón, citizens are also making the best of opportunities to make the local agriculture industry more attractive to private in-vestment, and to further de-velop its equestrian sector. He notes that the only equestrian hippodrome in all of Ecuador is located in Samborondón, and that the historical presence of the horse is very important to his region of the country, as witnessed through traditional festivities which include ro-deos and horse-led cavalcades.

“We all need one another – the business owner needs his workers, the politician needs his community,” concludes Mayor Yúnez. “We are proud to be from Samborondón, and although it may take time for our achievements to be recog-nized on a national level, that we are on the right path is most important.”

La Aurora de DaularThe project La Aurora de Dau-lar is located in the Chongón parish, in the “New Develop-ment Pole” of the City of Guay-aquil, 60 kilometers from the beach at the foot of the new access route to the future In-ternational Airport.

The housing plan will be built along the lines of the municipal housing project, Mucho Lote 2, and includes the creation of 14,200 hous-ing units, whose selling prices shall be, like for Mucho Lote 2, approved by the Municipality of Guayaquil.

The La Aurora de Daular project will be built in stages over a total period of eight years. Each stage or develop-ment will have an independent entrance, perimeter fence and security gate. The plots of land will have an area of 97.5 me-ters squared (6.50 meters x 15 meters) for in-between houses and 176.04 meters squared (11.75 meters x 15 meters) for corner houses. One and two storey houses will be built on these plots.

The developers respon-sible for the development of this major project will be the companies DALDRY, S.A. and CONSTRUDIPRO S.A., who have extensive experience in the development of housing programmes of social interest, and have been responsible for the development of various sectors within the city.

The myriad of construction works in Guayaquil and the neighboring town of Samborondón will have a huge impact on livelihoods. But perhaps the most important of all these works is Mi Lote, an affordable housing project that will slash the housing deficit by providing thousands of homes to poorer families for

as little as $6,500 over the coming years

Big construction projects to

substantially improve quality of life

FACTS ABOUT THE CITY

The main port (Puerto Principal) of Guayaquil is

also the main port of Ecuador. Seventy percent of Ecuador’s external trade transits through this port

4

As its name suggests, this is where the historic Guayaquil Conference

took place in 1822. Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín, leaders of the South American movement for independence from Spain, met here on July 26–27, 1822. Late in 1821, when San Martín’s campaign for the liberation of Peru was faltering, he wrote to Bolívar, whose army was then in possession of Ecuador, that the two of them must join forces if the struggle for independence was to succeed. Bolívar agreed enthusiastically, and the two met at Guayaquil

3

Guayaquil

Only four cities in the American continent that are not capital

cities have both a US consulate and an autonomous American Chamber of Commerce. Guayaquil is one of them

1

“We help one anotherand this is my greatest satisfaction the unity of the canton despite the different backgrounds of our people. Here nobody is marginalized and everyone is always willing to lend a hand”

JOSé COCO YúNez PARRA,Mayor of Samborondón

Guayaquil reinvests 85% of its income in services for the

public and in public works. This means that out of $100 received by the municipality, $85 are re-invested for the people

PUBLIC

85%

2


7Monday, November 30, 2015Distributed by USA TODAY GUAYAQUIL

Home to the na-tion’s largest port, Guayaquil has a long history. Be-tween being the

birthplace of the independence of the nation and its status today as an economic pow-erhouse, the city has always been a bastion of provincial and municipal autonomy and an example of progress for the rest of the country.

The port has had a large role to play in this story. Account-ing for almost three-quarters of the country’s imports and half of its exports, it is extremely im-portant to Ecuador’s economy. Three industries which provide the core of trade for the port of Guayaquil – forming part of the economic backbone to the country – are cocoa, shrimp and banana.

Ecuador is the fourth larg-est producer of cocoa in the world. The cocoa sector in the country has experienced sus-tained annual growth of 10% over the past decade, and is the third largest sector in the country’s agricultural export system, with a potential value of $700 million.

Guayaquil is where one of the best varieties of cocoa in the world was born, making Ecuador the world’s largest producer of high-quality co-coa. According to President of the National Association for Producers and Exporters of Cocoa (ANECACAO), Iván Ontaneda, the reason behind this is the importance of tech-nology in Ecuadorian cocoa production. “Ecuador is the Silicon Valley of cocoa,” he says.

With the recent Ebola cri-sis damaging 60% of the larg-est cocoa plantations in the world, reducing world supply and pushing prices up from $2,800 to $3,500 per ton, Ec-uador – which held the Third

World Cocoa Summit in Sep-tember – hopes to leverage these price increases. By 2020 the government plans attract more foreign investment in or-der to produce 450,000 tons of cocoa each year, which would make Ecuador the third largest producer worldwide, accord-ing to Mr. Ontaneda.

Shrimp is another example of Ecuador thriving at the high end of the market. The govern-ment recently launched the ‘First-class Shrimp’ campaign, which is based upon a strategy with emphasis on elite quality and green processes. Thanks to growth mainly fueled in and around Guayaquil, shrimp production is forecasted to be up 25% at the end of this year, compared to year end 2014, ac-cording to projections by the National Chamber of Aquacul-ture (NCA).

“Ecuador has maintained sustained growth in recent years and this year is projected at 25% in production volume compared to 2014, going from

475 million pounds to about 540 million pounds in 2015,” says José Camposano, President of the NCA. Mr. Camposano adds that such growth is despite the fact that Ecuador has had to overcome a plague of white spot (a highly lethal and contagious shrimp virus).

Today, Ecuador’s shrimp is recognized amongst the best in the world, and the country has obtained quality certifica-tions for sound environmental management from interna-tional organizations. “Ecuador certified the first shrimp farm in the world under the standards of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) on aquaculture sus-tainability. We also received recognition that our shrimp output is of the highest qual-ity,” explains Mr. Camposano.

The banana is one of the other symbolic products of Ecuador, with 30% of the world supply originating from the country. As a result, the yel-low fruit has a huge role to play in the economic development

of the country and will con-tinue to do so for the coming years. Currently, in the whole country there are about 5000 smaller producers, and a total of 7500 producers. This figure does not take into account all the indirect jobs created by the processes of fertilization, fungicides, food, packagers, and all of the other indus-tries that are forged around the banana industry.

The future of the banana trade in Ecuador makes for an inter-esting read – it is an industry that has recently enjoyed three years of growth, but at the same time, there is a contraction in terms of hectares. Indeed, there are fewer hectares today than there has been at any point in the past decade. However, this fact just shows the strength of technological innovation in the industry, much of which can be attributed to DOLE.

DOLE is one of the biggest food companies in South America. The company is heavily involved in the banana

trade, and is one of the flagship companies of Ecuador, with the brand widely recognized as a global benchmark for quality. In terms of exports, the company is in in several countries, with the United States, Europe and Russia ac-counting for 60% of total ex-ports. The US is the biggest importer, with 45% of DOLE’s products ending up there, es-pecially on the West Coast.

The only transnational company that has been per-manently present in Ecuador, DOLE places high importance on corporate social responsibil-ity within the country and has been the pioneer of the industry for many years. It has been in-tegral in defeating a number of diseases in bananas, which have threatened the entire industry over the past half -entury. It was also the first major exporter to use boxes to export the product rather than exporting them in bunches (which meant that the product often arrived damaged and bruised), which is now stan-dard practice.

The company employs a very large technical team (indeed, the CEO Patricio Gutiérrez himself has a PHD in crop physiology) that is used to sup-port producers. As CEO, Mr. Gutiérrez, says, “Our approach has always been to offer our producers not only a contract, but also assistance. In this line of thinking, we have many reports of the progress of an irrigation system we developed, to give one example. Also, we were the first to bring irrigation to the country. There have been a number of technological ad-vances that we have always tried to share with the industry. It is very important that, as the larg-est exporter, we have also tried to be a good corporate citizen.”

Dole is working closely with The Murdock Research Cen-

ter of North Carolina, which is dedicated to finding out more about the beneficial effects of fruits and vegetables. One of the interesting things that has come out of the institute is that, based on extensive testing on athletes, bananas are a better source of fuel than energy drinks, with marathon runners consistent-ly performing better after they have eaten the fruit.

As Mr. Gutiérrez explains, “It has been shown that in these conditions, eating a banana is much better than taking a Ga-torade, not only because the en-ergy component is higher but because the mix of nutrients that a banana has are unique.”

It is precisely this kind of pas-sion for its product that makes this company stand out. Indeed, such innovative efforts have not gone unnoticed, and last year the company was nominated for a prize for corporate social responsibility from the U.S. Sec-retary of State John Kerry.

So what does the future hold for one of Ecuador’s flag-ship companies? “With these crops and the market how it is, five years is a lifetime. In this business you cannot see past six months – the markets are constantly changing,” says Mr. Gutiérrez.

One thing that is certain is that the cocoa, shrimp and banana markets look set to thrive with the help of inno-vative companies like DOLE, which in turn will enable Guayaquil to not only main-tain, but expand its position as one of the most reputable food technology and food ex-port hubs in Latin America.

The food export industry has formed the backbone of the economy of Guayaquil, a thriving port town and Ecuador’s trading hub. The most important food products are bananas, cocoa and shrimp

Technological innovation drives food production industry forward



Known to Ecuador-ans as “El Litoral”, the coastal plain extending from the Pacific to the

Andean foothills has long been known for its dynamic economy. Where you have a coast you also have ports, and not just goods entering the country, but also concepts and tendencies. Guayaquil, Ecua-dor’s largest city (and port) is ideally situated to catch the sea-borne breezes conveying new ideas to deal with old challenges. The mindset that has most dramatically taken hold in the lowland provinces of El Litoral calls for the cre-ation of a knowledge-based economy driven by techno-logical innovation.

“Guayaquil is on course to being the smartest city in Latin America,” predicts Mr. Tomislav Topic, CEO of the Telconet group of com-panies. They specialize in Internet infrastructure and related services such as next generation networks and data security, but it is also a mat-ter of personal conviction for Mr.. Topic that El Litoral’s fu-ture depends on transitioning from an economy based on manufacturing, commerce and the extraction of primary materials, to one that offers a full range of highly integrated digital services.

With the full support and cooperation of Guayaquil’s mayor, Jaime Nebot, consid-erable progress has already been made on the road to the digital city. “We are in-stalling some 6000 ultra-high speed WiFi stations, any one of which can move data at 600MB per second.” notes Mr.. Topic, who hastens to add that “this high bandwidth service will be available at no charge to all users.”

Of course, a high perfor-mance network is not just for the sake of improving

cell phone coverage. The 700 plus video monitoring cam-eras currently deployed in the city will soon total over 3,000, allowing computers to optimize traffic flows and communicate information to drivers via a special cell phone app. Policemen can instantly report incidents, upload photos taken at the scene, dispatch ambulances, and even file the final pa-perwork without having to return to headquarters. By the same token, law enforce-ment officers will be able to

track moving cars and, on ob-taining a court order, employ facial recognition software to identify persons of interest.

Telconet was a regional pioneer in the introduction of fiber optical networks and the first Latin American data center to obtain TIER 4 certification. They have also developed a new type of un-derwater cable in which eight fiber optic strands rather than the usual pair of two-strand bundles connect the internet hub in the Ecuadoran city of San Pablo de Manta with Jack-

sonville, Florida – 80% of Ec-uador’s internet traffic is with the United States. It thus has plenty of redundant capacity to handle data heading from or to Aruba, Curaçao, Pana-ma and Colombia, while the bundle that serves Ecuador is 100% country-dedicated.

“Our goal is to get Ecua-dor connected and maintain that capability at first-world levels. That’s our strategic vi-sion – to be another Korea, or Norway,” says Mr. Topic, adding, “I think we’re having some success with it.”

Center of knowledgeIf you already know about advanced holistic digital technologies, greenhouse gas emissions, risk manage-ment for fish farmers, renew-able energies, environmental management, robotics, nano-technology and systems engi-neering, then you’ve probably already heard of ESPOL. And if not, you’d be surprised to learn that the Escuela Supe-rior Politécnica del Litoral is one of Latin America’s top colleges, where teaching and research are uniquely con-joined rather than compet-ing for funding and prestige.

Sprawling across a cam-pus occupying 778 hectares northwest of Guayaquil, for most of its more than 50-year history ESPOL functioned as a traditional polytechnic, churning out engineers and technical specialists to man-age imported 20th-century technologies. In the 1980s, it sprouted a semi-autonomous graduate school of business administration known as ES-PAE. It used to be said that ESPOL turns out engineers and ESPAE sees to the entre-preneurs, but such over-sim-plified categories no longer apply, says ESPOL’s forward-looking rector, Sergio Flores, who was a former professor of Telconet’s Mr. Topic.

“The education our stu-dents receive is meant to

add value to the final prod-uct, which in this case means their professional careers on the one hand, and the inno-vations we hope they will in-corporate into the productive matrix during the course of it,” says Mr. Flores. “Innova-tion is in short supply but you’re never going to see any changes until innovation en-ters the development chain.

“Our graduates meet world class standards. They are very good at working under pres-sure because that’s what we make them do here,” says Mr. Flores. Apart from its busi-ness school, ESPOL offers its 15,000 students doctorates in Computer Science and Biodi-versity, in addition to a range of Masters covering most of the pure and applied sciences.

ESPOL parted company with the traditional-model research university after spinning off a large chunk of campus for the site of PARCON ESPOL, a 190-hectare, world-class knowledge park where syner-gies between the academic, productive and research com-munities can be harnessed. The seven private sector R&D insti-tutes currently doing business there are dedicated to informa-tion technology, biotechnology, water, and sustainable develop-ment issues, nanotechnology and alternative energies, among other focuses.

And that’s just for starters. Mr. Flores is betting heavily that once PARCON ESPOL is fully up and running, authori-ties will green light a Special Development Zone known as ZILE covering much of the western coast. Goods that enter Ecuador temporarily via nearby air and seaports would remain duty free until after they are treated or otherwise modified with the technology at hand to add to their value before they exit the ZILE. “We should have done it all at once, instead of in stages, but twenty years ago the government then in office had other priorities,” adds Mr. Flores with just a hint of regret.

“Guayaquil is on course to being the smartest city in Latin America. Our goal is to get Ecuador connected and maintain that capability at first-world levels. That’s our strategic vision – to be another Korea, or Norway”

TOMiSLAv TOPiC, CeO, Telconet

El Litoral goes digital to get smart With Guayaquil on course to becoming “the smartest city in Latin America” thanks to companies like Telconet, ESPOL polytechnic is churning out the graduates that will help to turn El Litoral’s economy into one driven by knowledge and innovation

ESPOL polytechnic has become one of Latin America’s top colleges, where teaching and research are uniquely conjoined

“The education our students receive is meant to add value to the final product, which in this case means their professional careers on the one hand, and the innovations we hope they will incorporate into the productive matrix during the course of it”

SeRGiO fLOReS, Rector, eSPOL

#theworldfolio guayaquil · guayaquil monday, november 30 ... self strongly in the tourism sector,...

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