Three business leaders have officially announced bids to lead the Confederación de la Producción y del Comercio (CPC), the country's main umbrella group of business associations, according to Diario Financiero. They are Richard von Appen, Antonio Walker and Félix de Vicente, and the Cámara Chilena de la Construcción (CChC), the construction industry association, is considering adding a fourth name.
The election will be held on December 17, the same day Susana Jiménez ends her term at the head of the CPC. The winner will lead the federation for the next two years.
The post is contested by tickets: a president and a vice president, who usually come from different sectors. That formula has historically favored consensus candidacies. A race with three or four contenders is unusual, according to the outlet.
The first to enter was Richard von Appen, chairman of Ultramar and former president of the Sociedad de Fomento Fabril (Sofofa), the industry association. He announced his intention on September 3, surprising even his own association. A week earlier he had asked Sofofa president Rosario Navarro for her backing by letter.
Sofofa ended up supporting him, but his decision to get ahead of internal discussions did not go down well, according to the report. He also faces an obstacle: Jiménez also comes from Sofofa, which makes it difficult for that sector to lead the CPC for two consecutive terms.
On September 28, Antonio Walker joined the race. He is a former Minister of Agriculture and the current president of the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura (SNA), the national agriculture association. He is the brother of former senators Ignacio and Patricio Walker and of Senator Matías Walker. He has 40 years of experience in agricultural business and 35 in business associations.
The third is Félix de Vicente, Minister of Economy under Sebastián Piñera and vice chairman of Santander bank. He announced in El Mercurio that he would run on behalf of the Asociación de Bancos e Instituciones Financieras (ABIF), the banking association. He owns Kitchen Center and has business interests in mining and cemeteries, among other sectors.
One of his closest allies is Alfredo Moreno, a former CPC president. Moreno was his boss at Editorial Santiago and Telemercados Europa, and today they share ownership of the company Helicópteros Rotortec.
The CPC brings together six business associations, and the three candidates represent half of them. According to sources cited by Diario Financiero, the Cámara Nacional de Comercio (CNC), the national chamber of commerce, and the Sociedad Nacional de Minería (Sonami), the national mining association, will not field candidates and will back one of the others.
The CChC is the exception. That association intends to put forward its own candidate, arguing that construction carries significant weight in the economic recovery. The decision would depend on its former president Patricio Donoso, whom several leaders want to promote, although he is reportedly not fully convinced.
Various business sources consulted by the outlet see Walker and De Vicente as having the edge. Whoever drops out could negotiate the vice presidency and thus secure a seat for their association on the board.
The CChC will hold a key meeting next Wednesday to decide whether to field a candidate. The registration deadline is December 2.
