The Portfolio of Investment Projects Uruguay XXI It includes diverse projects, from state-owned projects to technology and biotechnology-based startups, including companies in sectors such as agribusiness, industry, tourism and real estate, among others.
The objective is to facilitate the meeting of these companies with foreign investors. For this, Uruguay XXI developed a web portal in Spanish and English, which enables the registration of both parties and makes it possible to exhibit the projects to a network of investors from abroad who are looking for opportunities in Uruguay.
The Investment Project Portfolio is the first website to systematically present the vast majority of public and private investment opportunities in Uruguay. The format is that the information presented by the companies generates a summarized presentation in Spanish and English and it will be the decision of whoever completes the information if it is visible to all registered investors or only to those who sign a confidentiality agreement.
At the same time, registered investors will be able to access a broad multi-sector portfolio of investment opportunities. investment in Uruguay. When an investor expresses interest in a company, Uruguay XXI It will put them in contact with the person authorized for the company so that they can continue a private negotiation, without the organization interceding.
The axes to attract investments
In dialogue with Ambit, the investment project manager of Uruguay XXI, Alvaro Brunini, He said that the organization has three central issues in charge: the issues of promoting the country brand; the issues of promoting foreign direct investment, that is, trying to attract investment direct foreign and that grows in Uruguay; and promotion issues exports with a focus on small and medium-sized businesses.
“In terms of investment promotion, we highlight the general, transversal attributes of Uruguay, such as the issues of reliability, stability, respect for the rules of the game, ease of doing business, tax incentives and quality of life, but we also highlight sectoral issues. And, in fact, we have sectoral strategies and teams in agribusiness, which are both food and forestry, wood, ICT, corporate services, pharmacy and life sciences and energy transition issues,” he explained. Brunini.
“But, at the same time, it often happened to us that in our relationship with the private sector in Uruguay, They told us: ‘well, you who have contact with him Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have this company that I am looking for investments or that I am looking to sell.’ And, on the other hand, sometimes when we went abroad or when the investor came abroad to Uruguay, They asked us a bit the same thing. They said: ‘well, the attributes of Uruguay or very well the sectoral schemes, but in our case we want to invest in something concrete and we don’t have anything systematized,’” he added.
The objective is to attract investments of at least half a million dollars
About the details of the investments, The organization’s executive clarified that the focus is on investments of approximately half a million dollars.
“The target audience is companies that are based totally or partially on Uruguay and that they are looking for at least half a million dollars. And this portal aims at all sectors. Specifically to a sector, and in fact today we have more or less 25 companies already registered and more than 60 registered users to upload projects. In reality they belong to all sectors. “We have technology startups, biotechnology companies, tourism companies, industry, agribusiness, etc.,” he said. Brunini.
As for investors, they target foreign companies that want to invest in Uruguayan companies or investment funds that bet on “mature” companies or funds that invest more in technological and biotechnological startups.
Regarding this process, he added: “These investors find out because we have already sent them information or because we have just identified them and we are sending them new information or because they themselves come to Uruguay XXI. They often arrive alone through the website, through the work of our sectoral investment promotion teams, often also through the embassies and consulates of Uruguay abroad or derived by the private sector, whether by consulting firms, chambers, among others.”
“What we do is the connection, the link between both parties. Once the investor looks at the information on the portal and is interested in a specific company or project, we ask the company if it is interested in speaking with that investor, we make the connection and then a dialogue or negotiation continues between private parties, which we have already opened,” clarified the executive of the state organization
And he stated: “In fact, we have on our website a directory of investor services where consulting firms and studies are already registered. In other words, this whole process continues there and, whether the business is derived or not, it is already a question of the parties. ”.
Uruguay as an investment destination
The receipt of capital interested in investing in Uruguay It is another of the organism’s tasks, and in that sense it has been working. “In the specific case of Argentina, We have been receiving many investment inquiries for a few years now, especially in terms of technology, but also in other sectors,” said Brunini.
And he added: “There too Argentina It has stood out for not only the fact that Argentine companies have settled in or acquired Uruguayan companies, but also because many times the owners of the companies, the main representatives of many companies, have come to live in Uruguay”.
“Uruguay It is an attractive place for people to come for its quality of life. Also for issues of security, stability, tax incentives at personal levels. And, well, now we complement it with a range of specific possibilities in which to invest,” concluded the leader.
Source: Ambito
