The Chilean Salmon Council – formed in May between AquaChile and Salmones Aysén, as well as the local units of Cermaq and Mowi – has appointed the economist Joanna Davidovich as executive director of the organization, effective 1 July.
Davidovich has extensive experience in economic analysis and public policy design, having developed several programs designed to improve Chile's productivity. She is currently the vice president of the board of directors at the Port of San Antonio, and has held positions including director of the Competitiveness Office for the Ministry of Economy, executive director of the Productivity Commission of the Confederation of Production and Trade, chief of staff for the Ministry of Economy, and chief of staff for the Ministry of Public Works. The executive has also participated as board member of institutions including gas distribution firm Abastible, Valparaíso port authority EPV, and the Chilean Society of Public Policy. Davidovich has a master’s degree in applied economics from Universidad Católica de Chile and a master’s in business law from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez.
Calling her new charge “a great challenge,” Davidovich highlighted the fact that salmon is the second-largest export product in Chile with “many attributes and tremendous potential.”
“We have the opportunity to place the Chilean salmon industry as a world leader, respecting and promoting the best sanitary, health, regulatory, and environmental practices,” she said in a press release.
During a recent meeting with Chilean Minister of Economy Lucas Palacios and Undersecretary of Fisheries Román Zelaya, the salmon farmers said their companies committed to being “a benchmark for innovation, with absolute adherence to current regulations, free competition rules, and of course, respect for our employees and the communities where we are inserted."
The Salmon Council directors – Fernando Villarroel, CEO of Mowi Chile; Pablo Baraona, president of Salmones Aysén; Sady Delgado, CEO of AquaChile; and Steven Rafferty, CEO of Cermaq – previously expressed that the reason for bringing the four firms together was to strengthen salmon farming in the country, initiating a new phase that promotes a global, long-term perspective in protecting environmental health and promoting competitiveness.
Photo courtesy of Joanna Davidovich/Twitter
