Eduardo González
Paraguay’s potential as an investment destination for Spanish companies was highlighted yesterday in the official visit to Spain of the Paraguayan president, Santiago Peña, the first he has made to our country since he took office in 2023.
Peña was received mid-morning by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who conveyed to the Paraguayan president the desire to develop a new Country Association Framework to replace the one currently in force, completed in 2023, to define the new cooperation program development. Paraguay appears as a “priority association country” for Spanish Cooperation, which has been present in this country for 40 years and is focused on areas such as building resilience, supporting the transition towards sustainable production models, guaranteeing services. quality social services, the promotion of diversity and inclusion and institutional construction.
Likewise, the President of the Government highlighted the role of Spanish companies in the economic growth of Paraguay, which makes Spain the fifth largest investor worldwide, and expressed our country’s intention to increase business investment and promote sustainable development. and inclusive with public projects that represent “great opportunities for Spanish companies and benefits for the Paraguayan people.” The Head of the Executive also stressed the importance of the European Global Gateway initiative to promote strategic investments in Paraguay, of “great interest for Spanish companies.”
On the other hand, Sánchez expressed Spain’s commitment to trying to close the EU-Mercosur agreement in the terms that are most beneficial for both parties, taking advantage of the fact that Paraguay currently holds the rotating presidency of that organization since last December.
After the meeting at La Moncloa, Santiago Peña was received at the La Zarzuela Palace by King Felipe VI, with whom he already met last Sunday and earlier this week in Barcelona on the occasion of the Mobile World Congress (MWC). Present during the meeting were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the ambassador of Spain in Paraguay, Carmen Castiella Ruiz de Velasco; the Paraguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rubén Ramírez Lezcano; and the Minister of Industry and Commerce of this country, Francisco Jaiver Giménez de Zúñiga. Later, the Kings offered a lunch in honor of the president of Paraguay and the First Lady, Leticia Ocampos. The King traveled to Paraguay in August of last year for the inauguration of President Peña, in his first visit to the South American country since he acceded to the throne in 2014. In addition, Queen Letizia made a cooperation trip to Paraguay in 2021.
CEOE
Much of Peña’s working visit to Spain has focused on offering investment opportunities to Spanish businessmen, to whom he highlighted that the Paraguayan economy has the highest growth rates in South America and that 70% of its population is less than 40 years old. In this regard, Peña declared to the press (according to the Paraguayan Presidency website) that “this visit is going to generate renewed interest, because there are already Spanish businessmen who are in Paraguay; There are some who have been evaluating the possibility and after these three days that we have been here, there will be many more who will decide to go and invest in Paraguay.”
With this objective, Peña participated in the afternoon in the Spain-Paraguay Business Meeting, organized by the CEOE and which brought together Spanish businessmen who have interests in the South American country or who could have them, both to increase investments and commercial exchanges.
During the meeting, Santiago Peña assured that his country represents a “very broad production platform” thanks to “a very competitive agricultural sector”, which “can be” a tremendous development pole”, and its commitment to renewable energies. Likewise, he continued, the Government has met its objectives “in macroeconomic terms”, with inflation below 4% and sustained growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and has “everything” to reach a GDP per capita of 30,000 dollars “without doing anything very fantastic.”
This situation, together with a “simple” tax regime that helps generate employment and a Government that is not considering increasing taxes, represents “a great opportunity” for Spain, according to Peña, who invited Spanish businessmen to be “part” of the good economic moment of your country.
For his part, the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, highlighted the important competitive advantages that Paraguay has due to its economic solidity in financial or fiscal matters and the favorable climate for business and celebrated that, coinciding with Peña’s visit, has closed the new agreement between Spain and Paraguay to avoid double taxation and tax evasion.
Likewise, the Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, assured that there is great development potential between both countries that Spanish businessmen should take advantage of, because “it is an opportunity and a necessity.” Additionally, the president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, José Luis Bonet, stated that Paraguay is a preferred partner for Spain in Latin America and offers a reliable commercial alliance for the entire European Union in the current context of international uncertainty.
On Tuesday night, Peña presided over a business dinner organized by the Alianza por Iberoamérica Business Council (CEAPI) and in which the president of this organization, Núria Vilanova, participated. During the event, the president assured that “Paraguay is the next success story.” “We are an economy open to the world,” she said. “We believe in the trade integration process, and we also understand that we have to do more,” he continued. “On the other hand, we must continue consolidating the model in food production, we are competitive, but we still have to continue diversifying our productive base,” he added.
On the other hand, Peña met yesterday with the Ibero-American Secretary General (SEGIB), Andrés Allamand, to reinforce and deepen Ibero-American cooperation in his country. During the meeting, it was decided to send a SEGIB mission to identify issues of interest to the Paraguayan government that can be addressed from the field of Ibero-American Cooperation, especially on issues related to gender and indigenous peoples. We also want to ratify the Framework Agreement to Promote the Circulation of Talent in the Ibero-American Space.
