The Free Zones Area of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uruguay, with the support of the Chamber of Free Trade Zones, presented the latest contribution data from the FTZs at a working breakfast in the Auditorium of the Celebra Building in Zonamerica on 13th June. On the occasion, the keynote speakers were Ec. Rosa Osimani, General Director of Commerce and Ec. Guillermo Tolosa, Executive Director of Ceres.
Costa Oriental attended the event and I took note of the main indicators highlighting the following:
- The evolution of employment in FTZs has different characteristics from the rest of the Uruguayan economy. While in the total economy the employed decreased by 0.64%, in FTZs they grew by 8.21%, demonstrating the strength of activity in these enclaves.
- In 2017, exports from FTZs were $ 4,302.49 million dollars and represented 27% of the total country. Zonamerica, FTZ in which Costa Oriental is located, leads the export ranking with $ 1,674.81 million dollars exported.
- Investment in FTZs in 2017 was $ 224.64 million dollars, representing 12.28% of the total investment of the country. The FTZ with the greatest participation is Zonamerica with just over 40% of the total investment of the Free Trade Zones.
- The contribution to GDP is growing and in 2017 it was approximately 4.8%. It shows a specialization characterized by greater importance of global services and industry.
Without a doubt, the Free Zones are an important engine for the economy of the country where the role of the government and the private sector is key to continue increasing activity and facilitating investment in Uruguay.