Venezuela’s Tertiary Sector: Trade, Transport & Services
Venezuela’s Tertiary Sector: Trade, Transport, and Services
The tertiary sector is constituted by the activities of transport and services. Trade in this sector is generating more jobs in Venezuela, which makes it an important component of the country’s economic system.
Trade
Trade is the economic activity that is responsible for distributing goods and facilitating consumption by putting products within reach of consumers. Interest rates in trade are relevant.
- Internal Trade: The distribution of goods within a country. This trade is organized in two ways:
- Wholesale: The purchase of goods in large quantities from producers and other traders.
- Retail: The purchase of goods in small quantities. Retail purchases are made between traders and consumers.
- International Trade: The exchange of goods and services between nations or countries. International trade is classified as:
- Exports: The sale of goods or services that a country makes to other nations.
- Imports: The purchase of goods or services that a country makes from other nations.
Transportation
Transportation involves the transfer of raw materials and semi-finished products, as well as the mobilization of people from one place to another.
Transport is done via the following routes:
- Maritime Transport: For the transport of goods and people across oceans. Sea routes are less expensive and can move large quantities of goods.
- Lacustrine Transportation: Refers to the route and transfer of goods carried out through rivers. The Orinoco River is a major lacustrine route in Venezuela.
- Ground Transportation: Refers to the transfer of goods by land, either by highway, roads, or inland ferries.
- Air Transport: Refers to the transport of goods and people by air. This route is the least used by businesses due to its high costs, but it is one of the most used by people for their various daily activities.
Examples of Public Transportation Systems
- Metro de Caracas: A subway service that allows users to travel from one station to another.
- Valencia Metro: An underground railway serving the Venezuelan city of Valencia, Carabobo state capital. It was devised as a system of underground mass transit.
- Trolley (Trole Mérida): The mass transit system of Mérida, also known as “TroleMérida.” It is a mass transit system consisting of two trolleybus lines, plus a third line of the cable car system called “TroleCable.”
Services
Services encompass all those activities undertaken to meet the needs of others. They can be public or private.
- Public Services: Include all services supported or dependent on the Venezuelan state. Examples include welfare services such as hospitals, educational institutions, and services provided by the military and other state security bodies.
- Private Services: Are provided directly to people by private companies. Examples include lawyers, medical clinics, and private television.
Some specific services include:
- Social Media: Media covering information simultaneously in various regions of the republic.
- Electricity: A public service essential to the population and the development of a nation.
- Tourism: As a tertiary sector activity, tourism is an activity called the “industry without smokestacks” because it generates significant monetary income for the country that has developed it.
For tourism, it is important to have:
- Investments in infrastructure such as hotels, restaurants, and resorts attractive to people.
- Good roads for communication and a good number of hotels and inns.
- Trained staff specializing in customer service and knowledge of the resorts.
Informal Economy
The informal economy is defined as any commercial activity that takes place outside normal parameters and emerges in times of crisis as an element to ensure the subsistence of the population with fewer resources.
Advantages of the Informal Economy
- Creates a great source of work, usually temporary work.
- Part of the gain from the informal economy enters the coffers of the state through consumption tax.
- Relieves social unrest, as people with fewer resources can access different products through purchases made within the informal economy.
Disadvantages of the Informal Economy
- Produces a decrease in the collection of attributes derived from tax evasion by these activities.
- Creates inequality among citizens who pay their taxes and those who do not.
- Does not help to finance actions that could take place in the social area.
- There is limited or no credit to those who operate wholly or partly in the social economy.