Chilean president elect Sebastian Pinera attends a news conference in Santiago, Chile, December 18, 2017. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile’s President-elect Sebastian Pinera plans to create two new management units at the world’s largest copper producer, state-run Codelco, to improve operations, his pick for mining minister told local paper La Tercera on Saturday.

Pinera said Codelco required more investment, strong management and improved efficiency a day after defeating his center-left rival by nine percentage point in December.

His government plans to divide Codelco’s operations geographically to focus on the north and south and raise the number of board members from nine to 11, said Senator and future Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica.

“Given the size of the company...I think it should be a Codelco South and Codelco North,” Prokurica was quoted in La Tercera on Saturday.

“If we want Codelco to keep producing as it has done for so many years...we need a policy of reinvestment of profits that does not currently exist,” he added.

Pinera, a billionaire conservative who was president from 2010 to 2014, takes over from center-left President Michelle Bachelet on March 11.