Interviews
The first stage of this plan led to his recruitment on 12 August and thereafter established the new institution, which was named Wines of Uruguay and, as we said, is composed of the Association of Exporting Wineries and the Association of Wine Tourism in Uruguay. Hopefully in future they will gather also all the other wineries interested in starting to export and/or develop a range of tourist services in their companies.
Gustavo Magariños Pagani is an economist graduated from La Sorbonne in Paris who has been working in the area of international business for 18 years, developing markets in Latin America, U.S., Canada and Europe for industrial and services companies, both national and international. He has developed research works for Asociacion Latinoamericana de Integración, is a professor at ORT College (International Relationships Courses) and as Special Civil Attaché to the Uruguayan Embassy in Washington to work in the promotion of Uruguayan exports and investments promotion. He also lectured in various conferences in Uruguay and abroad.
Once in office, the magazine Galeria, a supplement of the weekly publication Búsqueda, published an interview made by journalist Marcela Baruch, which was provided to Bodegas del Uruguay by Magarinos Pagani, and partially reproduced below.
Which are the activities planned in the short term? When will they be carried out?
The activities have three main objectives: first, improving the image "wine country" in foreign markets, to help importers, distributors and consumers to identify Uruguay as a country producer of fine wines of high quality, which although internationally recognized in the professional sector, they are not so well known to the general public. This image will also transmit the characteristics of the current production process, environmentally friendly, the quality of our vines and grapes, the advantages of our climate and the professionalism of our wineries.
Second, increasing production of fine wines and the constant improvement of its quality; and last but parallel, developing wine tourism, where we have a great growth potential.
Are you going to create a sensory committee for standarization of the quality of national wines within the activities listed in this plan? What stage is it at?
A Quality Committee, formed with our technicians and open to other organizations is being integrated. The National Organization of Grape Growers (ONV) has been invited to take part in it, and probably other players such as as INAVI, LATU, and all those organizations that are involved in the sector and wish to join this endeavor may also participate.
Has the financing system of the actions to be developed within WOU and other activities of the plan been decided? The program mentions a membership fee for wineries, besides the contributions from INAVI and other public entities.
Yes, there are specific actions which could already be funding resources. In general, projects will be financed with 40% contributed by the wineries themselves, and the rest will be contributed by the INAVI and the PACC. WOU is developing the projects, which must adjust to the Strategic Plan and be approved by the Committee on Competitiveness (four members from WOU, one from ONV, one representing non-exporting wineries and one from INAVI), to be granted access to the resources provided by OPP. Public sector participation may reach even 80%, depending on the characteristics of the projects. The cost of membership is really low, and is intended to pay the basic costs for the normal functioning of the institution.
Have any wineries that were not part of the ABE or ATEU so far requested their admittance, due to the preparation of this plan?
The new plan has just begun and we are inviting those who are not members to join, the more they participate, more actions are possible and better results obtained for the whole sector. This will also allow them to modernize and integrate into the international market in an efficient manner and with costs significantly lower than if they did it on their own.
Besides hiring you, have other actions defined under the plan been performed?
As I said before, after my taking office projects for approval were drafted and submitted. We are currently working on two projects, one is for participation in two trade fairs in Europe (Düsseldorf and London) next year, the other one for actions in Brazil in 2009 and 2010, and a third one for Brazilian tourists that will visit us between December 25 and January 6. There are also actions planned in the U.S., Mexico and possibly Canada for next year.
Which are the specific actions programmed for WOU?
Participation in the above mentioned fairs, tastings in Punta del Este and in two or three cities in Brazil, in New York, and in Mexico. It is also planned to invest in one of Brazil's most important print media. It is interesting to highlight that nearly 45 days ago Red o Globo broadcast a material explaining the benefits of the Uruguayan Tannat, with its unique health properties and supported by scientific findings. Currently, and probably due to this news release, the demand for our Tannat has increased exponentially and we think it's the right time to make this investment that will help consolidate it.
Within the lines of communication of the country outlined in this plan there appears the possibility of making known Uruguay as a sort of America's New Zealand. Based on what criteria would Uruguay be similar to New Zealand? Why would you take that country as a model?
New Zealand is probably the most successful case worldwide, and for this simple reason we would use their experience and the concepts they developed in their model that best fit our reality. We are similar in climate, land, size and population. We should improve our training in the tasks of production and harvesting, business management and integration into external markets.
Source: Marcela Baruch, Revista Galería
on wineries in Uruguay.
