President Luis Lacalle Pou witnessed this Friday the 24th the beginning of the civil works of the first service free zone of Maldonado, the World Trade Center Punta del Este Free Zone, whose investment is around 65 million dollars and which will employ 1,200 people.
The president highlighted the agreement with Brazil to eliminate tariffs on goods produced under this regime, which allows attracting investment and work to Uruguay.
Also in attendance were the Vice President of the Republic, Beatriz Argimón; the Secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado; the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Pablo Mieres; the Undersecretary of Economy and Finance, Alejandro Irastorza; the mayor of Maldonado, Enrique Antía; that of Rocha, Alejo Umpiérrez, and the entrepreneurs behind the project, Carlos Lecueder and Ernesto Kimelman.
“I’m happy with the investment, with the number of jobs on the construction site and those that will later be in the offices,” the president said in statements to the press.
On the occasion, he emphasized the agreement signed on Monday 20, whose protocols allow, among other things, that the production of goods in national free zones enter the Brazilian market without tariffs.
“Uruguay had to negotiate some of them for a period. Now all the free zones enter with a period that is not determined. It is very good news for investments to continue arriving in our country”, he expressed.
In this sense, he added that the undertaking that begins its works, like others throughout Uruguay, is benefited by this agreement, which represents a greater incentive for the arrival of investments and jobs.
Likewise, he underlined that our country is successfully positioned in the technological area and affirmed that an example of this is the companies that have installed offices here.
The construction of the building, with 27 levels distributed over 28,000 square meters, is in charge of the company Saceem and generates direct labor for 200 people for 32 months. The first business and business center will have offices in which it is estimated that more than 1,200 people will work. The infrastructure will be located on Gorlero Avenue and will be the first LEED (Leader in Energy Efficiency and Design) certification in the city.
