HONG KONG – (ACN Newswire) – The Latin American country held a business seminar for buyers and potential investors from Hong Kong on Wednesday October 31st. Business rounds were also organized with the visiting delegation.
In order to strengthen commercial exchange, an official mission from Uruguay led by Foreign Affairs Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa arrived to Hong Kong to develop meetings with buyers and those interested in investing in the country, which is currently considered “the pearl of South America” in terms of institutional strength, legal security, and incentives to investors.
The delegation, included more than a dozen businessmen from the Latin American country and Antonio Carambula, the president of Uruguay XXI, the investment, export and country brand promotion agency.
In this context, Uruguay XXI held a business seminar the morning of Wednesday, October 31st at the Murray Hotel aimed at potential investors, high-level businessmen, government authorities, buyers and the press, in which Billy Wong, deputy director of Research at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, also participated.
In the opening of the activity, Chancellor Rodolfo Nin Novoa referred to Hong Kong as “a business partner of relevance to Uruguay while representing a global trade center and global Finance.”
“Uruguay has been and is a synonym for seriousness and trust, and opportunities,” said the Chancellor of Uruguay and added that the country represents “a strategic base in Mercosur and more widely in South America.”
During his presentation, deputy director of Research at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said trading is one of Hong Kong main pillars of GDP. Hong Kong is becoming an important trade and investment hub, which is the world’s 7th largest exporter in merchandising trade and 15th largest exporter in commercial services, he explained.
Meanwhile, the President of Uruguay XXI, Antonio Carambula, presented the opportunities offered by Uruguay as a hub for business in Latin America. “Why is Uruguay today the best gateway to Latin America? Uruguay is institutional strength, macroeconomic strength and quality of life, said the president of Uruguay XXI. He added that the country has become the business hub in Latin America, where every year global companies establish regional centers that combine platforms or activities of various types, such as logistics, commercial, services, innovation, manufacturing , among others.
The seminar presented the competitive advantages, natural production and investment opportunities of Uruguay, a country that is going through one of its most prosperous stages in history and which has grown uninterruptedly at an average rate of 4.3% over the last 15 years. This evolution resulted in an increase in per capita GDP, making Uruguay the country with the highest income in the region and the most equitable in Latin America. Likewise, Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, is considered the city with the highest quality of life in the region.
In addition, the country stands out for offering investors confidence, clear rules of the game and sectorial promotional regimes for companies.
For Hong Kong businessmen, the seminar presented the favorable environment that Uruguay offers for the installation of companies of different sectors of the economy, its political and macroeconomic stability, the diverse specific incentive regimes for each item and its competitive advantages that have motivated a wide variety of companies to choose it as a destination for doing business.
Among other incentives, Uruguay allows individuals and corporations to settle in its territory without having to comply with prior requirements or obtain special permits from the State. It has no restrictions on the repatriation of profits, its exchange market is free and it does not require a local counterpart to set up a company. In Uruguay there is no discrimination in the treatment of national or foreign capital and offers investment incentives for both, with tax exemptions. Nor does it establish limits for the endowment of foreign capital in companies.
The first Uruguayan investment in China, is the Zonamerica business platform, which is installed in the financial district of Foshan – an area strategically chosen for its proximity to Hong Kong – seeks to facilitate the generation of business with Latin America. The company developed a space of 1,500 square meters where it has offices, co-work spaces and showrooms.
Uruguay, with a little more than 3.4 million inhabitants, provides food to almost 30 million people, with a potential to reach 50 million, stands out for its food production, known worldwide for the quality and sanitary safety of its meats, wines, dairy products, olive oils and caviar, among other tasty and natural products of the country. It is also a leader in technology and renewable energy, in addition to being an outstanding logistics center in its continent.
Sky Solar is one of the Hong Kong companies that have invested in Uruguay, with photovoltaic energy projects.
In terms of trade, Hong Kong exported to Uruguay US$ 22 million in 2017, surpassing the US$ 19 million of 2016, mainly marketing technological products such as telephones, data processing machinery, monitors, projectors and other office machinery. Meanwhile, Uruguayan exports to Hong Kong reached US$ 52 million and increased 13.4% with respect to 2016, with meat products.
Please visit the below websites to know more about investing in Uruguay:
www.buyfromuruguay.uy / www.investinuruguay.uy
Media inquiries:
comunicacion@uruguayxxi.gub.uy