Why to Invest in Uruguay

Another comment

2008-12-20T18:59:00.001-02:00

Uruguay has become an attractive pole for foreign investors since in addition to the low price and the high quality of lands excellent productions are obtained.

There are three conditions that provides a convenient business environment for the investors which are:

1. COUNTRY LEGAL TERMS , CONDITIONS & MACROECONOMIC RATIOS
2. COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS
3. GEOGRAPHIC and ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

1. COUNTRY LEGAL TERMS , CONDITIONS & MACROECONOMIC RATIOS

Uruguay is a country with firmly and consolidated democratic traditions and a right state that provides the necessary legal frame to offer security to the foreign investors. Proof of it are Both Finnish Botnia Co. and Spaniard Ence Co. companies wich invested more than 1,500 billion dollars each in pulpmill. Result of the correct administration is the fiscal order and other macroeconomic rates that locate Uruguay like one of the South American countries with highest index education, sanitary and with an annual GNP (Gross National Product). As Uruguay have all multilateral organisms credit endorsement, the Uruguayan bonds have high values and fast market collocation due risk country qualification which values oscillate in the 350 points average (one of the lowest South American values).

Home

2. COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS

Main Uruguayan exports come from the primary sector being the meat the most important heading and US the main market. Also there are important exports of wools and cereals. Land taxes have been reduced to historically low values in addition to low production taxes. Uruguay has high quality human resources as to be employed in different areas. A very important fact is that the production is developed with almost null environmental contamination resources and 80 percent of the cattle production is made in extensive conditions. Uruguayan Sanitary conditions are optimal with out world-wide controlled plagues or diseases.

Home

3. GEOGRAPHIC and ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Uruguay has 3.5 million inhabitants. It has a smoothly waved surface, extremely irrigated developing an interesting network composed by rivers, streams and lakes that are sustained by an annual 1200 to 1500 mm rainfall. The climate is subtropical with annual averages of approx 20 º C. Uruguay has hundreds of km of coasts on the Atlantic Ocean which allows to have a privileged port that admits boats of all openwork. Also the country is surrounded by Plata and Uruguay River both with commercial ports. There are absence of natural disasters like earthquakes, or wind storms. Only 3 % of its area this composing by native forest, blance is composed by inhabited areas or green natural and improved grasses suitable for breeding cattle, timberlands or farming activities throughout all year arround.

Uruguay properties

2008-12-20T18:44:00.001-02:00

Uruguay has a long-standing tradition of observance of the law and respect for private property, which has never been jeopardized throughout changes in government. This creates an ideal framework for real estate investments, both in rural and urban properties.
Doing business in Uruguay is simple. There is a multilingual and qualified workforce available in every professional field.
According to the organization Transparency International, Uruguay ranks second in the list of least corrupt countries in the continent.
The impartiality of Uruguay's Justice system is unquestionable, and Government bodies and individuals alike observe and honor all their agreements.
Uruguay is a safe place to both live and do business in. Businesspeople and their families are not in danger of being kidnapped. Any person can lead a normal life and walk down the street unguarded without fear of being attacked.
As its population shares many characteristics with Europeans, Uruguay emerges as an excellent testing ground for new products and concepts, with minimum risks and with results that can later be extrapolated to the rest of the world.
Large multinational corporations such as Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, Sabre and Xerox, just to mention a few, have chosen Uruguay as a platform for their operations in the region. Its strategic location, low operating costs and the excellent qualifications of its people were key factors in these companies decision to establish themselves in the country.
Uruguay has bank secrecy regulations in place and depositors can choose to open accounts in international currencies (dollars, euros), thus avoiding possible fluctuations in the local currency. Moreover, there are no restrictions to currency exchange and the domestic financial market is strong, having withstood the major economic crises that affected the region in recent years.
Uruguay was the first country in the Americas -even ahead of the United States- to digitalize its entire telephone network. The country has full coverage in telecommunications, and the private service providers operating in Uruguay continue to lower their prices dramatically.
Transportation is made easy by a network of routes and roads connecting every corner of the country. There are no unreachable regions in Uruguay, and everything is just a short step away.

A company proposes this

2008-12-20T18:37:00.000-02:00

Uruguayinvest is the Foreign-Investment Consulting Unit of Uruguay´s leading law firm LVM Abogados & Consultores with the support of Argentina´s investment banking and corporate restructuring firm Aguirre & González. Its role is to provide foreign clients with a one stop site to cover all the needs that arise when investing or doing business in Uruguay and in Argentina, or when using Uruguay as a base to conduct regional business (for the purposes of trade, to use the country´s duty free zones, and in offshore operations). The unit is managed by two partners of LVM and one from Aguirre & González. It counts with an experienced team of U.S. -educated MBAs, attorneys, CPAs, and consultants in several fields. Uruguayinvest has assisted dozens of multinationals and individual investors in activities such as:

Setting up companies

Acquiring local companies

Real estate development

Acquiring land and property

Establishing international trade structures

Participating in privatization processes

Registering foreign products

Restructuring distressed debt

Uruguayinvest is unique in that it reaches beyond the services that are usually provided by law firms in Uruguay and Argentina, and covers, under one roof, legal advice, tax and financial services, consulting and accounting issues, with the invaluable combination of both local knowledge and overseas experience.

An external opinion

2008-12-20T18:34:00.000-02:00

Uruguay, according to the words of its president, "is a reliable country" that "respects contracts and investments."

Since the government accepted the program of tax austerity imposed by the IMF in the 1990s, the economic results have been good, reaching an index of annual growth of approximately 5%, which has inspired more and more foreigners to invest in Uruguay.

The country is a member of MERCOSUR as well as the Latin-American Association of Integration (ALADI) and the American Bank of Development. Its main commercial associates are Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and the U.S.

Invest in Uruguay for its Reliability

With a stable economy and a strong commitment toward outside investment, Uruguay offers a great deal of reliability.

The monetary currency is the Uruguayan peso. After the large Argentinean devaluation in 2002, Uruguay had a gradual devaluation of its currency. Although the U.S. dollar weakened with respect to the Uruguayan peso in 2005, you will find the general cost of living to be about 30% to 40% cheaper than that in the U.S.

You should also be aware that, since the 1970s, the successive governments have applied open politics along with liberalization of the financial system. This has resulted in specific measures that have modified the physiognomy of the banking and financial systems over a short period of time.

The absence of controls on currency exchange operations, the absolute liberty for capital movement (entrance and exit), confidentiality with respect to banking, as well as the implementation of fixed interest rates are the main characteristics of the Uruguayan financial sector.

Uruguay has been granted the qualification of "investment grade," as dispensed by recognized companies, such as the British IBCA and the American Duff & Phelps. This demarcation indicates that Uruguay is considered a country free of risk for investment. It ranks as one of the top three countries in Latin America for its ability to pay its external debt.