The finest gateway to Latin America

Uruguay stands out because of its high per capita income and equality - it has the largest middle class and lowest levels of poverty in Latin America. Business people who have opted for investing in South America using Uruguay as their gateway, praise its long-standing political, social and economic stability and favourable business climate.

The country stands apart from its neighbours as reliable for investors, with transparent rules of engagement and attractive breaks for businesses. Uruguay’s tech revolution has created a pool of highly-skilled local talent as well as outstanding digital inclusion, connectivity and fiber optic. And not only is it a great place to do business, it’s a great place to live. The capital Montevideo has been named the city with the best quality of life in Latin America.

Uruguay is the only investment grade country in Mercosur, South America’s common market, and the world’s major credit rating agencies have consistently upgraded its rating every year for the last six.

Despite its population of not quite 3.5 million, Uruguay has been able to position itself as the most solid logistical hub in the region. It boasts a privileged location which grants speedy access to millions of consumers across the continent - more than 400 million people who represent 76% of the region’s GDP.  As part of Mercosur and with a free trade agreement with Mexico, Uruguay is frequently lauded as the finest gateway to the region.

The country is a service-based nation with a modern port and world-class airport infrastructure, with the only free ports in the region. From Uruguay ships have direct access to the heart of the continent via the Parana, Paraguay and Uruguay river waterways which in turn connect with the highest density networks of highways in Latin America.

The quality of national infrastructure is expected to grow in coming years, following successful implementation of a public-private investment plan in 2015-2019 which is expanding and modernising main highways, as well as the railway and national ports complex.

Today, 98% of Uruguay’s electricity comes from renewable sources. This total transformation of the energy grid has led to its being ranked among the world’s top ten by the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report (WEF 2017) - alongside Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France.

Uruguay is renowned for its digital inclusion. Ninety percent of all homes have high speed fibre optic internet access. In 2017, the International Telecommunications Union named Uruguay the Latin American country most advanced in ICTs.

Industrial, commercial and service based industries should seriously consider Uruguay’s tax free trade zones which provide a favourable framework for logistic operations and business. Uruguay is an ideal place for setting up shared service centres. In fact, around four hundred international companies have chosen to locate in Uruguay as they do business with the region.