Chilean plans and the Bioceanic Road Corridor
And Brazil’s Arco Norte.
Opportunity for Suriname.
eyesonsuriname
Amsterdam, 15 April 2025–Plans by the Chilean government to develop the so-called Bioceanic Road Corridor and those of the Brazilian Arco Norte plan are both initiatives aimed at improving infrastructure and stimulating economic growth in South America. However, they differ in their focus and geographical scope.
Both plans, however, due to the geographical location of many, offer significant potential for strengthening trade with Europe. This is particularly due to the relatively short shipping distance and access to the Caribbean region.
Realizing this strategic value, however, requires significant investments in infrastructure, diversification of the economy, and an improvement in the investment climate. The historical and linguistic ties with the Netherlands and the economic partnership with the EU are important assets that can be further developed.
From the Chilean perspective, eyesonsuriname notes that the primary goal of the Bioceanic Road Corridor is to connect Northern Chile with Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay via a 2,400 km highway. The plan also includes an additional 22 infrastructure projects focused on improving roads, customs facilities, police controls, and ports. The plan entails a clear geographical focus specifically aimed at opening up the northern regions of Chile and providing a faster trade route from the Atlantic Ocean via Brazil to the Pacific Ocean via Chilean ports. This is particularly relevant for trade with the Asia-Pacific region. It also includes an economic impact: Chile expects that the corridor will significantly reduce transport times by at least ten days, thereby improving the competitive position of their ports and generating new business opportunities, especially in exports and imports with neighboring countries and in Asia.
President Boric emphasized that this is a concrete step towards economic integration and strengthening the Chilean economy.
The Arco Norte plan in Brazil, on the other hand, is broader in scope and focuses on the development of a logistics network in the north of Brazil. It opens up Suriname, as we can now travel overland through Brazil across the entire continent.
This plan includes various modes of transport, including roads, railways, and waterways, with the aim of increasing the efficiency of the export of agricultural products and other goods via the northern ports. Only a blind horse would fail to see the geographical focus and significance for Suriname.
The Arco Norte is focused on the northern states of Brazil and their connection to Atlantic ports in that region. Although it may indirectly contribute to transcontinental trade, its primary focus is internal Brazilian and on Atlantic export routes. And if Suriname is not favorably located in this context, then I don’t know what is. The Brazilian plan is intended to reduce logistics costs, increase export capacity, and stimulate economic development in the northern region of Brazil. It focuses on making existing trade flows more efficient and opening up new agricultural areas.
There is a clear connection between the two plans.
The Bioceanic Road Corridor and the Arco Norte plan are complementary in their broader objective of regional integration and economic development in South America, but they operate on different geographical scales and with different primary goals. In the connection between oceans vs. internal logistics, it is clear that the Chilean Bioceanic Road Corridor is explicitly aimed at creating a transcontinental connection between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans via land routes. While the Brazilian Arco Norte project primarily focuses on improving logistics within Brazil and exports via the Atlantic ports in the north of the country. This could be a golden opportunity for Suriname because geographical scope plays a major role. The Bioceanic Corridor is a multinational project connecting the northern parts of Chile with the interior of Argentina, Paraguay, and the southern regions of Brazil. The Arco Norte is mainly a domestic Brazilian initiative focused on the northern region. Furthermore, the focus on trade partners is more geared towards making the export of Brazilian goods to the world market via the Atlantic Ocean more efficient.
The two initiatives can indirectly strengthen each other by creating more efficient trade routes and logistics networks in the region. In this context, Suriname’s geographical location could be of added and strategic value in strengthening trade with Europe.
However, there are also clear challenges, such as the potential strategic major advantages where a location on the north coast of South America could play a significant role, and Suriname could form a well-usable bridge between South America and the Atlantic Ocean. This gives it a relatively favorable position for shipping routes to Europe and from Northeast Brazil to the Caribbean and the Southern United States of North America.
Furthermore, Suriname could serve as an important hub for transshipment of goods. This is not only due to the shorter shipping distance to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean region compared to some other South American countries. This can lead to lower transport costs, reduced emissions, and faster delivery times. Suriname is a member of CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, which provides access to the Caribbean market.
This can facilitate European companies wishing to operate in this region. Suriname, which possesses natural resources such as bauxite, gold, timber, and potential offshore oil and gas that are important for European industry, can form a significant export flow.
But there is so much more to life than oil.
In addition, the historical ties with the Netherlands and the fact that Dutch is the official language would be an advantage in trade relations with the Netherlands and potentially the European hinterland as well.
It facilitates communication, legal matters, and cultural understanding because Suriname, through CARICOM, has an economic partnership with the European Union, which offers preferential access to the European market for certain Surinamese services and products.
However, there are also significant challenges and limitations. For example, the infrastructure in Suriname – roads, ports, airports – is considerably less developed than in some larger South American countries. This can hinder the efficiency of trade.
The Surinamese economy is also relatively small, which may limit the volume of potential trade with Europe. Furthermore, factors such as political instability, corruption, and economic policy in Suriname that affect the attraction of European investments and the strengthening of trade are looming.
For matters such as competition with other South American and Caribbean countries, which may have more developed infrastructure, larger production capacity, or stronger trade relations with Europe, and a rather strong dependence on the export of raw materials can make the trade relationship vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices. But Paramaribo doesn’t really need to worry about that.
To strengthen the strategic value of Suriname for trade with Europe, the Caribbean, and the Southern US, it is important to invest in infrastructure: ports, roads, airports, and logistics facilities are crucial to reduce transport costs and increase efficiency.
Or that the economy could become more diverse: Reducing dependence on raw materials by developing other sectors, such as agriculture, tourism, and services, can broaden and stabilize the trade relationship with Europe.
Why invest in Suriname, is a very good question and in need of a very good answer.
The improvement of the investment climate is another important factor, and creating an attractive and stable investment climate, with transparent regulations and addressing corruption, can attract many more large European investors.
Also, actively utilizing the economic partnership agreement with the EU and striving for further trade liberalization can stimulate exports to Europe in addition to. Cooperation with other CARICOM countries can strengthen the joint negotiating position vis-à-vis Europe and provide access to a larger regional market.
