RelocationUy | About Uruguay

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Uruguay offers a high degree of safety and comfort.

The climate is pleasant throughout the year, summer being the peak season for tourism.

For many years Uruguay has had a strong political and social stability, supported by a consolidated democracy.

The political system is based on a democratic republic with presidential system. Presidential and parliamentary elections are held every five years. There are a plurality of political parties.

The legal system is based on laws passed by the Parliament and promulgated by the Executive Branch. There are special judges for civil, customs, bankruptcy, commercial, labor and criminal matters, and specialized criminal courts for organized crime and family issues.

Visitors only require a valid passport to enter the country. There are some exceptions in which visas are required additionally. MERCOSUR citizens only need identity cards.

ECONOMY

Sustain economic growth: In 2011, the Uruguayan economy grew by 5.7%, thus consolidating the ninth consecutive year of growth. The average growth rate in the past nine years is 5.3%. The GDP per capita has tripled over the past seven years, reaching in 2011 levels close to USD 14,000. For 2012 it is expected that the Uruguayan economy will grow by 4%, thus consolidating a decade of uninterrupted growth.

Dinamic external sector: The external sector has shown great dynamism as exports of goods and services quadrupled in the last decade. Uruguay is in a continuous process of diversification not only of its products but also of its markets: Uruguayan exports currently reach more than 160 different destinations.

Main goods and services exported: Meat, Soybean, Grains, Dairy & Wood and their derivatives, while among the services main exports include Tourism, Transportation, Corporate Services, Information Technology and Financial Services.

Increased investment: Foreign direct investment in Uruguay has grown strongly, nearly tripling in the last six years. Uruguay has positioned itself as one of the major recipients of foreign investment in South America. In 2011, the FDI reached USD 2,191 million, representing 4.7% of GDP.

INSTITUTIONS

Uruguay is a country with a stable and comprehensive legal framework, respect for property rights and contracts.

Uruguay has a highly stable and solid institutional framework.

The Legislative and Executive branches operate properly, the judicial institutions act independently and there are no significant bureaucratic costs.

Political Stability (2010) - World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators: Uruguay is ranked first in terms of Political Stability in Latin America.

Public trust of politicians (2012) - World Economic Forum: Uruguay ranks first in Latin America and Nº19 in the global ranking.

Business costs of crime and violence (2012) - World Economic Forum: Uruguay is the country in Latin America with the lowest incidence of crime and violence in business and is in the Nº58 position in the global ranking.

Judicial independence (2012) - World Economic Forum: Uruguay is the second country in Latin America with greater judicial independence and is in the Nº28 position in the overall ranking.

Corruption Perception (2011) – Transparency International: Uruguay is the second country in Latin America in terms of low corruption and is ranked Nº25 in the global ranking.

LOGISTICS, INFRAESTRUCTURE AND COMMUNICATIONS

Uruguay offers clear competitive advantages to the investor, including a privileged geographic location and a suitable and rapidly developing support infrastructure for goods and passenger transport by sea, air and land.

Uruguay has a strategic logistic location by the Río de la Plata River, where the Parana River and the Uruguay River empty into the Atlantic Ocean.

Uruguay has an ideal location and infrastructure to stock and distribute goods to the richest region of South America.

Uruguay is the second South American country in terms of infrastructure development (The Global Competitiveness Report 2012, World Economic Forum).

Uruguay has a new and modern airport, a new ring road in Montevideo and a road expansion and a new ferry port in Colonia.

Uruguay has the only deep harbors in South America that operate under a Free Port regime. It also has world-class port facilities in Montevideo, a regional hub par excellence for the Southern Cone.

Uruguay's road network is the densest in Latin America with 45 km of paved roads for every 1,000 Km2 of surface area. Uruguay ranks 2nd in South America in terms of roads' quality (source: Global Competitiveness Report 2012, World Economic Forum).

Uruguay is the most advanced Latin American country according to the Index of Development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). (International Telecommunication Union, 2011).

It has telecommunications services that have a wide coverage throughout the national territory being the country with more mobile phone teledensity in Latin America: 136 lines every 100 inhabitants and the highest rate of Internet users in Latin America: 58%.

INVEST PROMOTION

Uruguay has an attractive investment promotion regimen, Law 16,906 for Investment Promotion and Protection and its respective regulations. Since 2008, there is a one-stop shop to assist investors and an automatic, modern, predictable, transparent and effective mechanism that benefits a broader base of firms and specifies objective criteria for granting incentives.

In addition to the Investment Promotion and Protection Law, Uruguay has other several regimes that make the Uruguayan legal framework even more attractive for investments. These other regimes include, the Free Zone Law, Free Ports and Airports, Industrial Parks Temporary Admission, Bonded Warehouses, Law on Public-Private Partnerships, Law on Social Housing and specific regulations of each sector.

The business environment of the country has become more attractive after the recovery of its Investment Grade (IG). Standard & Poor's awarded Uruguay with this rating in April, 2012 and in July we were also awarded by the credit-rating agency Moody´s.

In Uruguay domestic and foreign capital is treated equally, therefore, all investors, irrespective of their origin, can access the tax benefits provided by the Investment Promotion Act.

In Uruguay there are no restrictions on profit transfer or capital repatriation, for which no prior permission is required from the authorities. The exchange market is free, without limitations on the purchase or sale of foreign currency and investments can be made in any currency.

In Uruguay there are international standards concerning the respect for intellectual property. The protection of copyrights, trademarks and patents is specifically legislated. According to The Global Competitiveness Report (2012), Uruguay is the first country in Latin America that offers greater protection to intellectual property.

CLEAR RULES

The Uruguayan political system has three major parties that have alternated in government. Economic stability, adherence to general economic principles, transparency and respect for contracts have transcended the specific programs of various administrations.

Democracy Index (2011), draw up by The Economist Intelligence Unit: Uruguay ranks first in Latin America and 17th worldwide.

Economic Freedom (2012), Heritage Foundation: Uruguay is ranked 2nd in South America and is ranked Nº29 in the overall ranking.

Political Stability (2010), World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators: Uruguay is ranked 1st in terms of Political Stability in Latin America.

Corruption Perception Index (2011), Transparency International: Uruguay is ranked Nº25 out of the 180 countries ranked and is the second country in Latin America in terms of reliability and low levels of corruption.

Global Competitiveness Index (2012), World Economic Forum: Uruguay is the 3rd most competitive country for business in Latin America after Chile and Brazil, and is ranked Nº63 in the overall ranking.

SOCIETY

Primary education is secular, free, compulsory and publicly funded. Citizens have access to free education from pre-kindergarten through university, resulting in high levels of literacy.

As a result of economic policies applied, Uruguay has achieved greater social cohesion, and benefits of growth have resulted in lower levels of poverty and extreme poverty. This has enabled Uruguay integrate the list of countries that have the lowest percentage of individuals in poverty and indigence in Latin America. The poverty rate fell from 2.3 in 2002 to 0.5 in 2011. Likewise, the percentage of population living in poverty fell from 35.2 in 2002 to 14.3 in 2011.

Uruguay was the first country to develop a social and digital inclusion plan called Plan Ceibal. This program provides free laptops to public school children and teachers in primary and early secondary schools throughout the country. Plan Ceibal seeks to promote digital inclusion to decrease the digital divide with countries and among Uruguayan citizens themselves to improve access to education and culture.

Global Peace Index (2012): Uruguay is ranked first in Latin America, and Nº 33 in the global ranking drawn by the Institute for Economics & Peace.

Uruguay is noted for its long tradition in respecting citizens' rights and has one of the highest levels of equal opportunity for children in Latin America, according to the Human Opportunity Index (HOI), 2010 developed by the World Bank. Uruguay had the second highest HOI in the region behind Chile.

In the 2011 Legatum Prosperity Index, which assesses the economic situation and quality of life, Uruguay ranked 1st in Latin America and 29th overall among the 101 nations surveyed. The index takes into account various economic, quality of life, health, population satisfaction and entrepreneurship indices.

Uruguay is the highest rated country in South America and the 77º in the global ranking. As the Quality of Living City drawn by Mercer.