This Tuesday, October 22, in Estudio TN8, we talked about the behavior of Nicaragua's Free Zones, projections for the end of the year and the perspectives for the year 2020. Alfredo Coronel, vice president of the National Free Zones Commission, was invited.
"The free zones in the country is one of the sectors that generates more employment. In 2007 there were 70,000 jobs, and through the processes of integration and understanding of dialogue between workers and employers in Zona Franca and public policies, aimed at this sector, it has been possible to achieve constant growth year after year, "said the vice president.
Better Work recognizes Nicaragua as a country with an excellent working environment
"We are currently with 125 thousand employees, this is thanks to everyone's work with the signing of tripartite agreements between workers, trade union leaders and businessmen of free zone."
"In Mateare we will have a new free zone of Chinese origin, Mainland China, which we expect to begin work at the end of years generating 3,000 direct jobs where half are highly trained (technicians and engineers) well trained."
Companies of this nature are fundamental for the stability of the rest in the country.
The proposed closing projection for 2019 is 128 thousand jobs, but this issue in Zona Franca is fluctuating due to the seasons, to US purchases that are 80%,
18% Europe and in smaller percentages Canada and CAFTA, but there is growth.
Main variables
"We have this divided by sectors, where the most important sector is the textile-apparel that generates around 70 thousand employees, is the bulk of the Free Zone. It has been the most consistent historical part of the Free Zone since its foundations in the 90s".
"In the second place we have agro-industrial, composed of tobacco where we proudly say that Nicaraguan cigars are ranked among the 10 best in the world; every year Estelí cigars are awarded among the best in the world."
"And we also have the harness sectors, a service sector where the call centers are included. The sum of all these sectors when put together gives us 125,000 jobs."
Export Closure
The numbers for this year are 2,800 and 2,900 million dollars, which are a very important figure, as they are growing by 200, 300 million; and this represents a 10% growth to close 2019.
"We always have a positive trend in Nicaragua, a growth trend in all established companies," he said.
Projections for 2020
"If the conditions we have are maintained and improved, we would be rounding 130 thousand jobs. It would be a huge advance for the country since we would be reaching one of the CAFTA countries, with greater production and productivity in many sectors."
The growth rate of Free Zones in Nicaragua is 10 companies per year, which is a very important contribution to the national economy. Finally, he said that on average there are 450 million dollars in direct salary that move the Free Zones in Nicaragua.