BHP Americas President Rag Udd said it is imperative to streamline the permitting process, push for regulatory and fiscal certainty for the development of large mining investments, while highlighting the natural resources company's willingness to increase its contribution to the country.

The President of BHP Americas, Rag Udd, spoke at the World Copper Conference and called for a broad public-private agreement to enable new long-term investments in the mining sector in Chile, guaranteeing faster permit delivery and ensuring regulatory and fiscal certainty.

In a panel discussion with other mining company executives, Rag Udd addressed the urgent need to reduce investment uncertainty so that the industry can keep developing capital-intensive projects that can continue to contribute to the country's development.

On the mining tax adjustments, Rag Udd pointed out that "we know that the mining industry can contribute even more to the sustainable development of the country and we are willing to do so”. However, he said that “we respect the dialogue with authorities, but the proposed royalty will position Chile in an uncompetitive place in comparison to other mining jurisdictions”.

The executive discussed the situation of the permits required to develop mining projects. "I would like to address to our authorities who support us in the sustainable growth of mining, which needs a pro-investment environment."

He also emphasized that the reform to the environmental evaluation system should develop more modern tools, predictable and that provide certainty for the construction of large scale mining projects, while also including higher environmental standards. He also asked to speed up the permitting process. "It is urgent to speed up the permitting process. Under any circumstances this means reducing the environmental standards of mining projects. On the contrary, at BHP we are aiming for higher industry standards, which we are already implementing."

Regarding Chile's projection as a world leader in the copper industry, Rag Udd warned about the possible loss of Chile's competitiveness if compared with other mining jurisdictions. He added that "BHP has the largest copper production in the world today and our portfolio is designed to compete in this complex but opportunity-rich environment. And copper is well positioned to prosper."