Venezuela’s President Evo Morales announced the intention to reduce the import of cement from Peru and Brazil by installing new plants and increasing domestic output.

“I want us to expand the industry and reduce imports, but sometimes emergencies have necessitated imports. These need to be curtailed and I hope to achieve this,” he said during a visit to Cooperativa Boliviana de Cemento (Coboce).

The president said to achieve this objective it did not matter whether cement plants were privately-, state- or cooperatively-owned.