“Uruguay is an extraordinary country”: Spanish President praises confidence and stability as key factors for investment

As part of his official visit to Uruguay, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez participated on Monday in the Spain-Uruguay Business Meeting, held at the Radisson Hotel in Montevideo. In his speech, the prime minister praised the country’s institutional conditions and reaffirmed the Spanish business community’s commitment to sustainable and strategic investment.

“Uruguay is an extraordinary country. Its political stability and democratic quality are exceptional and unparalleled in Latin America,” Sánchez told government and business leaders from both countries.

The event was co-organized by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the Secretary of State for Trade through ICEX, the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), the Confederation of Business Chambers of Uruguay, and Uruguay XXI. The event brought together more than 200 representatives from the private sector to strengthen economic ties and explore new bilateral investment opportunities.

During the meeting, a panel discussion entitled “Innovation: Uruguay and Spain towards the future” was moderated by the deputy executive director of Uruguay XXI, Martín Mercado. The event brought together leading figures in entrepreneurship and innovation, such as Mila Valcárcel (Eatable Adventures), Martín Curzio (ELDES), and Bruno Gili, coordinator of Uruguay INNOVA, the national program to promote innovation as an engine of development, who reflected on the challenges and opportunities in key sectors such as agrotechnology, digital accessibility, and artificial intelligence.

The latter panel highlighted the continued relevance of multilateralism and the importance of continuing to promote exchange and cooperation between the public and private sectors to boost innovation and long-term investment.

Legal certainty and long-term commitment

During the event, Uruguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Gabriel Oddone, highlighted Uruguay’s historic commitment to integrating into the world from a position of trust and consistency. “For more than 50 years, Uruguay has maintained stable policies in the sense of being an open economy, attractive to investment, which preserves the rights and guarantees of those who take risks to invest in Uruguay,” he said. Oddone also stressed that this stability is not the heritage of a single government, but a long-term collective achievement.

In his speech, the Spanish President also stressed that “this good governance, this democratic health, this institutional stability generate something essential when doing business, which is trust.” He affirmed that this trust is reinforced by “the very high level of legal certainty, a necessary condition for attracting foreign investment.”

He pointed out that more than a hundred Spanish companies are currently based in Uruguay. Spain is the country’s leading investor, with a cumulative stock of 7.6 billion euros.

“I have met with Spanish businesspeople who have been in Uruguay for some time and have all expressed their total commitment to this country and their desire to establish themselves here in the medium and long term,” he said.

Energy, infrastructure, and knowledge: pillars of cooperation

The Spanish President highlighted the role of Spanish companies in sectors such as banking, insurance, technology, water, and digitalization, and emphasized their contribution to Uruguay’s energy transformation.

“They played a key role in the country’s first energy transition, which has enabled Uruguay to become a world leader in electricity generation, with more than 90% coming from renewable sources,” he said. He added: “They will also be very present in this second energy transition towards decarbonization, promoting green hydrogen.”

He also mentioned Spain’s participation in flagship projects such as the Central Railway, which “will change the way Uruguay understands its transport system” and contribute to the economy’s decarbonization.

On a strategic level, Sánchez emphasized that most Spanish companies “work hand in hand with local companies” and that their objective is not to displace but to “complement and ally themselves with Uruguayan talent, generating employment and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Uruguay, a reliable partner for Europe

In his closing remarks, Pedro Sánchez reaffirmed Uruguay’s central place in the European Union’s strategic agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean, and its key role in sustainable development issues.

“We must also remain united with countries such as Uruguay, which share the same worldview,” said Sánchez, adding: “I believe we must continue to forge [these paths] together, as partners who are as close as Uruguay and Spain.”

The business event occurred during President Pedro Sánchez’s official visit to Montevideo, where he also held a bilateral meeting with the President of the Republic, Yamandú Orsi. On that occasion, both leaders signed cooperation agreements between the governments of Uruguay and Spain, reaffirming their joint commitment to an integration, investment, and sustainability agenda.