The new Panama Canal?

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2023

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Bioceanic Highway, aims to link Chile's Pacific coast with Brazil's Atlantic coastline.

We’re in landlocked Paraguay to find out how one of the world’s biggest infrastructure projects, could change how people there do business, especially the Mennonites, a powerful, religious farming community who live directly in the new highways' path.

Presenter / producer: Jane Chambers Image: Bioceanic highway in Paraguay; Credit: Bob Howard

Transcript

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0:00.0	World Football at the Women's World Cup is the podcast bringing you all the action from the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
0:07.8	Listen now by searching for World Football from the BBC World Service, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:17.2	Today we're looking at one of the world's most ambitious infrastructure projects,
0:21.7	which could change the way millions of people in South America do business.
0:29.8	This is the most important project in the region.
0:33.3	It's going to integrate Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay.
0:39.1	It's called the bi-oceanic route, and it means that Paraguay, which is landlocked,
0:45.2	will have easy access to the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean,
0:49.1	which is crucial for our development and the regions.
0:52.9	The new highway will be passing through the heart of the Chaco.
0:59.8	That's Paraguay's president, Maria Abdo.
1:02.5	The Chaco is a vast scrubland made up of wetlands, prairies and spiky trees.
1:07.0	It's home to the Mennonites, a conservative Protestant pacifist group, originally from Europe.
1:12.6	Some of them have mixed views about the new road.
1:15.7	We believe there will be a lot of opportunity.
1:18.4	If you look to the business side of it, we believe there will be a lot of challenges
1:23.5	because the concept of Mennonite colonies is based on isolation, is based on complete autonomy.
1:31.9	I do not exactly know what is going to happen.
1:34.7	That's all coming up on Business Daily on the BBC World Service with me, Jane Chambers.
1:43.4	Our first stop, some roadworks in Paraguay's Chagall.
1:48.9	The new bio-oceanic highway is still under construction and should be finished in three years' time.
1:55.0	Some parts have been built and already affecting the region.
	...

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