Ministry of Economy announces upcoming arrival of new companies in El Salvador

The companies come from countries such as Germany, Korea and the United States. According to Minister María Luisa Hayem, these movements are possible due to the security conditions offered by the country.

The Minister of Economy, María Luisa Hayem, assured in a morning interview that companies from Germany, Korea, the United States and other countries are about to start operations in El Salvador, motivated by the favorable conditions offered by the country, both in terms of physical security and tax incentives.

The official assured that the companies are in advanced talks with the government and pointed out that in many cases the approaches arose from official visits. For example, she recalled that after concluding his speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), President Nayib Bukele and part of his cabinet -among them Hayem- held meetings with U.S. companies; the same happened in Argentina.

“There are companies that are about to settle in El Salvador, some are from Germany, Korea and others from the United States. In addition, there are Argentinean infrastructure and technology companies interested in the country”, she pointed out.

According to the official, in this growing interest play an important role the security conditions of the territory, the ease of doing business and the digitization of government procedures. In the latter, the alliance with Google is taking center stage.

“If we didn’t have the security we have now, it would be difficult to convince investors to carry out projects […] The Investment Directorate of the Ministry of Economy is in charge of processing projects. All the procedures can be done digitally and the entrepreneurs receive an email with a document with my electronic signature that assures them that it has been processed,” he added.

Hayem also highlighted the importance of regulations such as the Law for the Promotion of Innovation and Technological Manufacturing in attracting investment. This type of initiatives that promote sectors with accelerated growth projections have a relevant impact on the national economic dynamics. 

“The Law for the Promotion of Innovation and Technological Manufacturing has been implemented for about a year and there are already more than 30 companies that have been covered by this law […] The 31 companies that have registered with the tech law and are eligible, some are Salvadoran, others from the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Bolivia and some European,” he said.

Finally, the minister said that El Salvador is receiving an important injection of capital in three ways: reinvestment of companies that have already been in the territory for years, the diaspora and new foreign direct investment.

“Many sectors are growing. We are seeing different sources of investment. One is companies that have been here for several years and have decided to expand their operations significantly, for example, Bimbo alone invested $200 million recently. There is also investment from the diaspora, which contributes with more investment in hotels and tourism, and we are talking about foreign direct investment. It is also important to mention MSMEs and startups,” he explained.

Source: Diario El Salvador