After having recorded a slight fall in 2017, companies in the free trade zone regime of Nicaragua plan to achieve a 5% growth in their exports this year.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
One of the engines of growth that is expected to be achieved in 2018 is investments and reinvestmentson the part of existing companies that are anticipated for this year. According to free zone entrepreneurs, between $300 million and $400 million could be invested.
Dean García, executive director of the Nicaraguan Association of the Textile and Apparel Industry (Anitec), told Elnuevodiario.com.ni that "... "For the year 2018, the figures for investment amounts will be around the same levels as 2017, between US $300 and US $400 million, possibly US $450 million, because we think that an effort to attract investment to Nicaragua is bearing fruit"."
Mario Zelaya, president of the Federation of Nicaraguan Chamber of Private Free Zones (FCNZFP), added: "...At the end of the year (2017) it is possible that we could reach 2% or 3% in sales in value, and in volume we around 5% in2017. For this year, 2018, we expect it to improve to 4.9%, and we do not see in the international market any factor that could affect exports."
Despite global threats, such as the possibility of a global economic slowdown, businessmen in the sector are confident that their sales will continue to rise.
Companies operating under the free zone regime in the country, estimate that their sales abroad during 2019 amounted to about $ 1.7 billion, an amount that exceeds by 5% what was recorded in 2018.
In the first half of the year sales to outside of the free zone regime were $1.138 billion, up 13% from the $1.007 billion generated in the same period in 2013.
The presence of new foreign firms operating under the regime and the rise in the volume produced, despite a reduction in some prices in the international market, explain the 13% increase in exports from the sector.
The 16% increase in sales of textiles abroad in the first two months of the year, compared to the same period in 2013, exceeded the business sector´s expectations.
With the huge rebound of 16% in the cumulative export of textiles in the first two months of the year, revenue totaled $300 million.
The reactivation of the Comisión Aduanera de Zonas Francas (Customs Free Zone Comission) will speed up the processing of this sector's imports and exports.
The executive director of the Nicaraguan Association of Textiles, Anitec, Dean Garcia Foster, said that in addition to streamlining procedures it will also create savings in operating costs.
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