Latin America’s Free Zones Continue To Play Key Role In Job Creation

New York, September 23, 2015.- In the run up to the XIX Free Zones of the Americas Conference to be held in Nicaragua in November, Dr. Juan Pablo Rivera, President of the Free Zones of the Americas, has emphasized the important role that Free Zones have played in economic stimulation in the region.

“Free zones have been, are and will continue being one of the main tools for job creation in the world, generating more than 70 million jobs and more than 900,000 in all Latin America,” he said. Rivera added that there are more than 3,600 Free Trade Zones worldwide, which generate more than 70 million jobs, of which Latin America represents 11% with its 400 Trade Zones.

The XIX Free Trade Zone of the Americas Conference will be inaugurated by General Alvaro Baltodano, Presidential Delegate for Investments; Jose Adan Aguerri, President of the Superior Council for the Private Enterprise of Nicaragua (COSEP, for its Spanish acronym) and Dr. Juan Pablo Rivera, President of the Free Zones of the Americas Association (AZFA, for its Spanish acronym), on Thursday, 5 November.

Rivera said: “We expect that the XIX Free Trade Zone of the Americas’ Conference will generate synergies among all foreign trade actors involved, including free zones, logistics agents, associations and consultants, taking advantage of this opportunity to consolidate our position as one of the most important partnerships in the hemisphere in terms of foreign trade and job creation.”

Dr. Claudia Avila Connelly, General Director of the Mexican Industrial Parks Association, will be participating as a panelist for the discussion panel titled The Development of Industrial Parks, along with Mario Zelaya, President of the Private Free Zones Parks Federation.

Other speakers include Raúl A. Torres, Counsellor in the Development Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Mark H. Green, Director of Sourcing for Latin America at Walmart.

The Conference is being organized by the Free Zones of the Americas Association, the National Commission of Free Zones of Nicaragua and PRONicaragua, the investment and export promotion agency of Nicaragua, alongside the Superior Council of the Private Enterprise, the Nicaraguan Association of the Textile and Apparel Industry and the Nicaraguan Federation Chamber of Private Free Zones.

“We hope that in the XIX meeting of Free Zones of the Americas we continue strengthening trade relations between Latin America and the world, taking advantage of our what we can provide to continue taking advantage of the incentives for the business world,” Rivera said.