Mario Abdo Benítez, President of the Republic, opened the Investment Forum 2022 “Invest in Paraguay”, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The event took place at the Conmebol Convention Center in Luque.
During his speech, the head of state repudiated what he described as “demagogic ideas” that conspire against the progress of our peoples. “We clearly understand that migrating from a work culture to a welfare culture, many times only with an irresponsible discourse, with a demagogic proposal, can break years and years of the work culture. However, migrating from a welfare culture to a work culture can take generations. Paraguay bets on work and security as a value of democracy that is not a right-wing or left-wing value”, he argued.
Abdo questioned the hate speech directed at part of the country’s productive sector. “The discourse hostile to the productive sector does not generate conditions of prosperity. It does not generate investment opportunities or incentives so that through these investments and taxes, the structure of the State has the strength to contain its social programs. Paraguay is going to continue betting on work”, he emphasized.
ALBERDI
The national president, during his speech, remembered the Argentine lawyer, economist and politician Juan Bautista Alberdi. “At the beginning of the 19th century, one of the founding fathers of our region, Juan Bautista Alberdi, wondered about the type of Constitution that South America needed to develop. He understood that having consolidated independence, it was necessary to focus on economic growth, attract immigration, attract trade and, as he himself said, ‘cover the desert of the new world’. In that context he managed to capture his ideas in one resounding sentence; ‘To govern is to populate’.
With this historical phrase, the Argentine intellectual wanted to explain that to populate is to educate, improve, civilize, enrich and aggrandize spontaneously and quickly, as has happened in the United States.
“He proposed that constitutions give priority to economic freedoms, guaranteeing personal freedom and the rights of others. That was what had to be communicated to the world. In these times, the constitutions ceased to be the only and main rules of the game observed by the eyes of investors and foreigners”, he pointed out.
Finally, he stressed that with the tax system of unusual simplicity, Paraguay stands out with lower rates in Latin America that imply a tax pressure of around 10%. The smallest in all of South America, with special tax incentive laws. “Our country stands out for offering total exemptions from customs duties and taxes on the importation of capital goods, with a system designed specifically for business start-ups,” he concluded.
