Paraguay’s Big Bet: Turning Power And Proximity Into Twice The Exports

Paraguay has a simple, high-stakes plan for the next decade: double exports by making more at home and moving it faster to market.

The blueprint, Paraguay 2X, bundles 500-plus actions built with business groups, aiming for roughly 7% annual export growth—enough to double sales abroad in ten years if momentum holds.

The logic is clear. Paraguay is landlocked but energy-rich. Itaipú’s hydropower keeps electricity cheap and predictable, a magnet for factories from food processing to metalworking and data services.

The country is also leaning on geography, investing in the Paraguay–Paraná waterway and the Bioceanic Corridor across the Chaco to link Atlantic and Pacific routes. For an exporter without a seacoast, reliable rivers and roads are everything.

Behind the headline target sits a shift in what Paraguay sells. Officials have mapped about 30 high-potential products to move beyond raw soy, corn and cattle into processed foods, wood products, textiles, plastics and light industry.

A proven tool is the maquila regime, which taxes value added at a single 1% rate and has drawn autoparts, apparel and aluminum producers—much of it headed to nearby Brazil and Argentina.

JBS Expands in Paraguay Amid Growing Regional Trade Opportunities

Early signals are visible. JBS is returning with a poultry project starting near $70 million and a full cycle around $135 million, targeting about 100,000 birds per day and roughly 1,100 direct jobs in Caaguazú—exactly the kind of value-added export 2X wants to scale.

The macro backdrop helps: growth topped 4% in 2024 and the central bank sees 4.4% in 2025. Still, execution is the test. Through August 2025, exports were about $10.85 billion, slightly below a year earlier amid commodity swings and low-water disruptions.

Why this matters beyond Paraguay: South American supply chains are shifting. If dredging stays on schedule, the corridor opens on time, and investment keeps landing, Brazil’s manufacturers and retailers could plug into a shorter, cheaper network for foods, inputs and finished goods.

The scoreboard will be simple—monthly trade numbers, factory openings, and whether the river and roads keep moving.