Uruguay seeks Chilean investors, appealing to its reliability and stability

Amid a year marked by the referendum for a new Constitution and the introduction of a series of reforms by the government of President Gabriel Boric, Uruguay held a meeting in Chile to attract investment by appealing to reliability and stability.

“Uruguay firmly believes in free trade, in being a country open to investments and protecting them”, said the Uruguayan ambassador in Chile, Alberto Fajardo, in the framework of the event “Investment opportunities in Uruguay”.

The event organizers also highlighted that Uruguay is reliable and enjoys “political, economic and social stability, which provides an excellent business climate”. In addition, the Uruguayan Embassy highlighted the high participation, with close to 100 people registered, double the initial expectations.

The activity was also attended by the Executive Director of Uruguay XXI, Sebastián Riesco, who highlighted the good conditions to promote business on Uruguayan soil. “Reliability and stability is something that the country provides. Uruguay has state policies that go beyond the different political parties, ideologies, and a course is maintained,” he added.

Riesco also stressed that the country does not change its demands when a company is promoting investments, and “that is no small thing,” he said.

The Uruguayan delegation also commented that the country leads, in the region, measurements such as transparency, stability, and equity, among others, but qualified that Chile is also close. “Now it is our turn,” said Riesco, who added that the foreign view of Uruguay did not suffer negative changes after the most challenging moment of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another of the issues with which Uruguay sought to attract investment from Chile was its tax benefits, its position in logistics, quality of life, people training, and trade agreements between the two countries. Riesco also commented on the role of innovation in his country and the capacity to export services to other countries, such as the United States.

On the other hand, Riesco said that the country is making progress in simplifying the paperwork for those who want to invest in Uruguay and that they are working on a promotion agency to help economically complicated companies looking for financing.

Arauco’s general manager, Cristián Infante, participated in the meeting to highlight his experience in Uruguay and reaffirm the position of the Uruguayan authorities: “The institutions work, that is the most important framework for our business, and certainly the natural conditions that our operations require”, said the executive.

Arauco also stresses that Uruguay has a “secure regulatory framework, with stability and which allows us to project ourselves with a level of security”.

Infante also recalled the words of the former president of Uruguay, José Mujica, who highlighted the importance of the private sector for the country at the time of the inauguration of the Arauco plant, according to the company’s executive.

“That mix of a strong social component with a strong vision of business and industry development is what makes Uruguay unique as a business opportunity,” added the company’s senior executive linked to the Angelini group.

However, Infante described its relationship with the unions during the construction of its facilities on Uruguayan soil as negative: “The union issue in Uruguay is complex, and you have to work on it, you have to train the counterpart”.

In response, a Cencosud representative asked for more details on this conflict, to which Infante specified that it occurred only during the construction process and accused the Uruguayan government of “not being fully active in what could have been”.

For his part, Enjoy’s finance director, Esteban Rigo-Righi, agreed with Arauco’s view and emphasized that “Uruguay’s proximity and willingness to develop investments is relevant”.

The executive defended his point by explaining that when one “makes an investment it is possible to recover 100% of the investment through tax benefits, these possibilities are certain, and we have experienced them”, and added that “there is not only stability, but there is an important tax incentive for investment, which allows development in the long term”.

Enjoy, which has been operating in Punta del Este for almost ten years, also emphasized that, concerning its sector, Uruguay is the country that recovered the most after the most critical moment of the pandemic.

With information from La Tercera