The Diplomat
The President of the Republic of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, yesterday highlighted the business and investment opportunities offered by his country in key sectors and assured that “Paraguay can be a strategic ally for Spain, to invest not only in the country but also in third markets”.
Abdo participated yesterday in the Spain-Paraguay Business Meeting, organized by the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), the State Secretariat of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, in collaboration with the Embassy of Paraguay in Spain, as part of his first official visit to Spain since he took office in August 2018. On Thursday, the leader was received by the King and the President of the Government and was entertained with a lunch in his honor at the Royal Palace.
During the business meeting, the possibilities of bilateral cooperation in projects of common interest and investment opportunities in key sectors of the country, such as agri-food, textile, chemical-pharmaceutical, auto parts, creative industries, and infrastructure and renewable energies, among others, were analyzed. The event was attended by the State Secretary for Trade, Xiana Méndez, and the President of the Business Confederation, Antonio Garamendi. Among those attending were the Paraguayan Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Julio César Arriola; Industry and Commerce, Luis Alberto Castiglioni; and Tourism, Sofía Montiel de Afara, as well as the Minister President of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT), Eduardo Felippo; and the Paraguayan Ambassador to Spain, Ricardo Scavone.
During his speech, Abdo Benítez underscored his country’s potential as a strategic ally for competitive production. “Paraguay can be a strategic ally for Spain, to invest not only in the country but also in third markets,” he said. “We want a relationship of cooperation and complementarity, for Paraguayans to gain and for Spaniards also to invest in Paraguay,” he added.
Abdo also affirmed that, during the pandemic, Paraguay was the country in which the GDP was the least reduced and a very important social containment program was also undertaken, which has made it possible to narrow the gaps in education within the framework of the Government’s interest in adapting human capital to the country’s needs. “We have a young, qualified and talented population, which we want to be productive in the future”, he stated.
The President of Paraguay also highlighted investments in the areas of health, infrastructure -with a very ambitious plan for the construction of road works to enhance connectivity with all markets- and energy. In this sense, he assured that Paraguay is the largest clean energy dam in the world next to Brazil and that the Government foresees investments of 6,500 million dollars to strengthen the electric system during the next years and is making progress in the field of photovoltaic energy to diversify the production of renewable energies.
During the inauguration, Antonio Garamendi assured, on behalf of CEOE and the Chamber, that the measures adopted by the Paraguayan government to improve access conditions for foreign investors are being highly valued by Spanish businessmen, who are paying increasing attention to a market that offers advantages due to its economic soundness, both in financial, monetary and fiscal matters, as well as its abundant source of energy.
For her part, Xiana Méndez emphasized that “Spain is the first investing country by stock in Paraguay”. “Spanish companies have been contributing for years to the development of the country, to the formation of human capital and to the local implementation of advanced business policies in the social, environmental or gender fields,” she continued. “We wish to continue favoring the continuity of the Spanish business sector in important projects within the ambitious development plans of the Paraguayan authorities, in sectors ranging from agro-industrial to renewable energies,” she added.
After the business meeting, Mario Abdo met with the President of the ONCE Social Group, Miguel Carballeda, who explained the work of the organization, based on the inclusion of people with disabilities through training, employment and universal design, and its business activity, which combines economic and social profitability. After the meeting, the First Lady of Paraguay, Silvana Abdo, accompanied by a large government delegation, visited the facilities of Fundación ONCE’s Por Talento Digital, a training center in digital skills and technological professions aimed at the acquisition of knowledge of people with disabilities in order to promote their inclusion in professions with high demand in the labor market.
