The government authorized the installation of a new free zone in Cologne for the production, commercialization and export of services. The project will have an investment of 20 million dollars, will be in charge of Silver Free Zoneand it will be the first dedicated to services on the Uruguayan coast.
Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) gave the go-ahead for the construction of a new free zone in the country. The main condition is that Zona Franca del Plata must provide the infrastructure for the installation, according to the bases of the proposal presented.
The final objective of the project is a space dedicated to companies that sell servicesand will consist of different stages in the work: the first includes the preparation of the executive project and the approval by the quartermaster of cologne and of the Ministry of Environmentand then present it to the National Directorate of Free Zones. This process is estimated to last six months.
The second stage provides for the construction of the building and the infrastructure, within a period of 18 months once the project has the approval of the corresponding agencies.
In total, it is estimated that the installation of the new service free zone will take total of two yearsTherefore, it is expected that by mid-2025, if there are no problems along the way, it will be enabled to operate. The investment starts from 15.3 million dollars, which will become 20 million if pre-operational and field expenses are also included.
According to Zona Franca del Plata —which must pay a 8% of your billing per year as a canon to the State—, the works would begin in the second semester. The forecast is that it generates around 1,000 jobs. The building will have five levels of offices and a business center in 11,000 built square meters.
The reasons for the approval of the MEF
In the resolution that authorizes the proposal for the free service zone in Colonia, the MEF highlighted the advisability of continuing to promote, through the installation of free zones, the services export promotion policythus capturing the capital and knowledge of the services required by top-level international companies with high technical and quality standards.
He remembered that the Free Zone Law declared the promotion and development of free zones in the country to be of national interest, with the objectives of promoting investment, diversifying the productive matrix, generating employment, increasing the skills of the national workforce and increasing added value.
It also provided for promoting activities with a high technological content and innovation and favoring the insertion of the country in the dynamics of international trade in goods and services and international investment flows.
According to the latest foreign trade report of Uruguay XXIthe free zones represented income of 114 million dollars in exports during May, while between January and May they represented 787 million dollars in international placements.
Source: Ambito
