We analyze the current situation of the Venezuelan market from the perspective of one of its main union representatives: Antonio Maceiras, president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Related (Venacor).
by Duván Chaverra Agudelo
Venacor (Venezuelan Chamber of Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Related) brings together since 1967 the companies of the HVAC / R sector in Venezuela. This union, despite the economic and political uncertainty that exists in this country, continues to be active in its struggle to keep the local industry on the map.
In ACR Latin America we wanted to know a little more about the current situation in Venezuela, and that is why we spoke with Antonio Maceiras, who, as president of the Chamber and the company Tecnonorte, has an important vision on the current state of the Venezuelan market.
Making an analysis of what is going on in 2018, Antonio considers that this has been a year of many difficulties for the industry, especially for the manufacturing sector of HVAC / R parts and equipment, since the lack of raw materials, access to foreign exchange and the low purchasing power of the local citizen continue to affect the market. To this are added some problems generated by minorities of employees who commit labor failures but are protected by the government, which generates problems that are beyond the reach of today's companies.
"There is no access to an official currency market, there are very few companies that obtain some type of currency from the official market and have to work with their own currencies, but their replacement is very complex, so you fall into a market that from the legal point of view does not exist; but you have to look at how you survive in that troubled sea that is very complex to manage," Antonio explained.
Likewise, the emigration of professionals is another factor that the industry has had to face. "The mass exodus of professionals at any level is affecting all companies; the replacement market is very limited and every time the crisis is altered by a bolivar that loses value daily (3 or 4%), people do not have enough, so companies have had to make payments in variable currency according to the currencies to try to retain people. That reality affects both the private and public sectors."
To this aspect, the notable decrease in the presence of the major brands in the sector is also added. "There is a distancing, the big brands are still present but with smaller volumes, there are some large companies that even have policies of not allowing their employees to travel, despite the fact that we insist that we take care of them," said the guest.
However, Antonio believes that despite the distancing, companies do not take their eyes off their country, as they are aware that recovery will come at any time. "I think companies stay close to their distributors, nobody wants to lose a market that has strength and that will return," he added.
In spite of everything, there is movement
If we focus on the project segment, Venezuela continues to generate movement, not as before, but, for example, in industries such as construction, projects that favor HVAC/R contractors continue to be executed, as well as other segments such as the cold chain that continue to allow the development of refrigeration facilities.
"In the construction sector, paradoxically, and with the current state of the currency, it has been very attractive to invest and very economical to build in Venezuela. You see quantities of office buildings that build and close them, and then hope that the investment can be profitable. This boom has been taken advantage of by the segment of contractors, who have carried out interesting projects in the private sector. At first glance you can see quite a few active construction cranes, it is a sector that does not stop, "explained Antonio.
"This has to change"
Antonio waits for the moment when the market recovers and everything returns to the way it was before. "We continue to believe that this has to change. The companies that are here bet that after the storm comes calm; crises are not eternal, they pass and return and at some point this severe impact on hyperinflation levels will recover a normality that if favorable conditions are generated with legal and financial credibility, the investment potential is unlimited. Here's everything to be done."
In the same way, the president of Venacor recognizes the tireless work of those professionals who continue to bet on the Venezuelan market. "The most positive thing translates into the willingness of entrepreneurs in the sector to move forward. Every time we meet it is gratifying to find so many entrepreneurs wanting to do things well and within the legal framework. We don't want alternate paths to keep our companies up to date. That will is the most positive aspect you see this year."
For this reason, the entrepreneurs who meet in Venacor analyze different ways to continue working day by day: "We are seeing how to bring equipment, how to deal with currencies; if it goes personal, look at how you replace it, then we are focused on solving the constant problems. We want to survive. One of the things that have been achieved is to unite the guild more, here we are all friends, we share experiences on how the colgeas have managed to move forward. In crisis, the family has to embrace each other more and be more united, and so we are doing in the guild. It's nice to see that we've learned to help each other when problems arise," Antonio explained.
Training programs do not stop
The Chamber continues with its training plans, because in Venezuela the need for training is unlimited and because the technical staff does not have a space to train, "there are very basic technical schools aimed at domestic issues, so Venacor tries to fill that gap which ends up covering the companies with employees; the Chamber contributes to giving support to this formation".
Venacor has also been recovering its event. The congress held in October 2017 had a positive response from the sector and is planned to be held again in 2019.
In addition, Venacor is currently closing an activity carried out by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with the help of Fondoin (Venezuelan Fund for Industrial and Technological Reconversion Foundation), which consists of the zero leak program, in awareness and training of users for the management of the issue of leak reduction. "We have done several forums at the national level, pilot tests with close monitoring and now we are closing that stage that was successful, we will see if the project continues for the third year," explained the president of Venacor.
To highlight
Today Venezuela has an even more uncertain outlook for the business sector, and that is that in mid-August, President Nicolás Maduro increased 35 times the minimum wage that went from 5 million to 180 million bolivars (about US $ 30), situation that makes it difficult to sustain companies. "Today the outlook is uncertain, none of the companies know where we are going. The increase in the minimum wage is not supported by any company, especially since here there is a component of labor liabilities that are retroactive, so the worker's activity is calculated based on the last salary. "
