Companies say there will be new investments and a major opening up of the labor market.

The Nicaragua Free Trade Zone Commission approved the entry of new companies (link in Spanish), mainly in the fields of textiles, tobacco, technology, and communications (link in Spanish). It also renewed operating licenses for companies that had requested this and applied for this and approved larger operations for the companies that are investing most in the country. This translates into a total of 1500 new jobs and US$17 million in guaranteed investment over the next few months.

Álvaro Baltodano, investment adviser to the president, said that it was a good start, one that demonstrated investor confidence in Nicaragua, the Free Trade Zone Regime, and the law. Likewise, he discussed how the sector exported US$255 million more in 2016 than in 2015. He also revealed that a new industrial park has been approved, for an initial investment of approximately US$1 million.

Furthermore, new technical standards have been approved which seek to improve fundamental areas such as logistics, red tape, and the efficiency of services between different free trade zones. In this regard, commission representative Alfredo Coronel said that “this progress is making our sector more attractive and competitive by the day–indeed, it is one of the pillars of Nicaragua’s economy.”