Sign of the Times: A billboard for Florida-based Raymond James at Punta del Este International Airport.
First The Switzerland of South America. Then A Good Place to Visit Your Money. Now Uruguay has a new national tagline thanks to Reuters: The New Darling of Global Investors. That is the theme of a well-researched piece by Hilary Burke and Malenda Castaldi. The duo point to the recent S&P upgrade as the latest in a series of events that find Uruguay on the receiving end of record DFI and the brink of investment grade.
A country that once depended heavily on its larger neighbors is now much more self-sufficient, although it has not always been easy. “Being located between the two largest economies in South America is like being a small dog in a pack of big dogs,” said Uruguay Construction Chamber president Ignacio Otegui adding, “The little dog has to bark louder, be a little rowdier, act badder than the big dogs, because if he doesn’t, he doesn’t exist.”
Today big foreign dogs want to come play with the little dog. “I am constantly receiving groups of foreign investors in my office,” says Vice President Danilo Astori, “but you can’t ever let yourself think you have reached the goal. You have to keep making the effort.” Part of the effort for Mujica, Astori & Co. has been the cultivation of stronger trade ties with Asia and maintaining what S&P described as “prudent and consistent policies.”
In conclusion, Burke and Castaldi say Uruguay’s size and geographic position make it the “perfect laboratory” for global companies that want to experiment and penetrate the Southern Cone. Any foreign companies planning a Mercosur domination campaign would be well advised to consult Pluna’s system map prior to landing in Montevideo. (Full Story in Spanish)
