Pablo Camacho: “Industrialization was an ideological whim that led to loss-making public companies and economic damage to Bolivia.”

Pablo Camacho, recently appointed by Luis Lupo, Minister of the Presidency, as executive director of the Technical Office for the Strengthening of Public Enterprises (OFEP), the body responsible for supervising and supporting the management of state-owned companies, in conversation with EL DEBER, said he was disappointed with how, on a whim and out of ideological ego, companies were created without any kind of planning and only served to generate a greater fiscal deficit and a waste of Bolivian resources. What is the role of the Technical Office for the Strengthening of State-Owned Enterprises? It was created to provide transparent information on the technical and financial status of the state-owned companies under its direction. The idea was to have timely information on public companies in order to better regulate the 67 public companies that were under the authority of the ministries of the Presidency, Economy and Public Finance, and Planning. These ministries created the Higher Strategic Council of Public Companies (Coseep), which was tasked with meeting and reviewing the performance of state-owned companies. The only time they did so was to review the transfer of resources for the Juancito Pinto voucher program. What will be the first measures you will take? The most important thing is to have access to information on state-owned companies. It is essential to know their financial status. All this information must be made transparent; that is the mandate of President Paz and Minister Lupo. We know that these companies operate at a loss, causing economic damage to the state. These state-owned companies were created under the program for the industrialization of the Bolivian economy. Do you consider that this objective was achieved? The much-vaunted industrialization did not exist. That was a program designed to satisfy one person's ideological ego. There was never any serious planning that took into account returns and efficiency. All these companies did was spend the gas. Those resources should have been allocated to education and health. It is frustrating to know the extent of the damage done to the country because of ideological whims. No one ever questioned the profitability of these companies; they just asked for more and more resources so they could continue operating at a loss. How do you feel about your appointment to a position that will be in the public eye? First, I must thank our president, Paz, and Minister Lupo for their trust. I know I have a great responsibility, and I am confident that I will be up to the task. In the first meetings, I was very disappointed by so much irresponsibility, by seeing how ideology damaged our country and how these factories had been operating at a loss since their creation, something that the previous government always knew about and did nothing to change. -Is the closure of state-owned companies being considered? Many are technically bankrupt, and many continue to generate a fiscal deficit for the country, a deficit that in 2024 was 10% of the gross domestic product. We cannot allow this situation to continue; we cannot continue to encourage the National Treasury to continue granting loans. So, we are going to carry out a comprehensive assessment in order to make the right decisions. But as I said, we cannot continue to maintain a system that is the result of an ideological whim that is doing so much damage to the country.