UAYAQUIL is Ecuador’s economic heart and 70 percent of the country’s exports pass through its port, a third of which are destined for the U.S. Over 15,000 of Ecuador’s companies are located in Guayas Province, of which Guayaquil is the capital, representing over 50 percent of Ecuador’s industrial and manufacturing activity. Companies in the province comprise a range of businesses including industrial, commercial, agricultural and service activities. Not surprisingly, over 18 percent of Ecuador’s total GDP is generated in Guayaquil and more than 20 percent of the country’s active labor force is located there. In addition, since the majority of Ecuador’s imports arrive through either Guayaquil’s port or its airport, the city is host to a growing number of international companies.

Guayaquil is an attractive choice as a business destination with its balmy climate and pro-business environment. Mayor Jaime Nebot is a strong proponent of free trade and tax-free zones, and has taken strident measures to improve Guayaquil’s business-friendliness. He is an enthusiastic advocate of the new national law on tax incentives that offers tax holidays for ten years in Guayas Province for investors in specific sectors such as electric power, petrochemicals, exports, aviation hubs and ports. Under the new law, companies will also enjoy tariff exemptions during the same period on the import of machinery, equipment and those raw materials that are not produced in Ecuador.

Mayor Nebot believes that Guayaquil, with its advantageous location between Ecuador’s largest river and the sea, has the potential to become one of the main business and convention centers on Latin America’s Pacific Coast. Back at home, he has dared to venture even further in improving Guayaquil’s own business environment, capturing the spirit of a city that is seeking to be reborn. His administration has worked independently to design new initiatives that are unique to Guayaquil and which can lower corporate taxes up to 19 times for companies that are setting up new businesses in the city. These incentives, along with the stability brought by the fact that the currency is the U.S. dollar, are an attractive invitation to new investment.

EDUARDO MARURI President Chamber of Commerce

“Guayaquil is a city that has developed a lot over the past ten years. It is a city waiting to be rediscovered. There is also a new generation of businessmen and political leaders here,” states Eduardo Maruri Miranda, President of the Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce (GCC). He adds that the city’s Chambers are also working to promote Guayaquil within Latin America and in a global context as a significant destination for commerce and export. “Now we have fresh leadership with an open, globally oriented mindset. This is an invitation to the world’s business leaders to perceive Guayaquil as a new opportunity and as a friendly home for business.”

One of Guayaquil’s most popular leaders, Mr. Maruri is a Harvard-educated businessman who is a favorite in the country’s presidential running. Since assuming his position at GCC in 2004, he has managed to more than double its membership while presenting fresh options for increasing the competitiveness of the city’s small and medium-sized companies, which he believes are the backbone and the future of the economy. He explains, “SMEs are really the engine of the Ecuadorian economy. We have captured this segment through the training programs we offer. It is these small companies that need more help.”

Free zones and opening borders provide ideal economic stimulus.

A renovated spirit is evident in all aspects of the city.

An ardent supporter of Mayor Nebot’s liberal reforms and of the decision to create new free zones in Guayaquil, Mr. Maruri hopes that these steps represent just the first move towards an eventual opening up of all sectors in the city. “I think that all of Guayaquil should be a free zone. The global trend is to reduce duties and gradually open up borders and there is no better stimulus for the economy than foreign investment,” he comments, pointing to finance, tourism and technology as areas where new investment is needed in the city. “The best way to promote investment is to allow tax exemptions for a period of time and let companies come in and create employment. I think that we can be more aggressive in this direction by not only allowing this in certain sectors as has recently been done, but by implementing it in all sectors.”

The free trade agreement with the U.S. is likely to contribute significantly to this end as well as opening a great deal of opportunity in Guayaquil for both the city’s businessmen and for American investors. Voted as one of the best destinations for businesses in Latin America by Latin Trade magazine, Guayaquil’s companies are already flourishing. Hotels and restaurants in the city are reporting a return on profits of 88 percent while its businesses are registering an average increase in sales of 25 percent, and the free trade agreement will only reinforce this trend.

Indeed, many American companies have already discovered the city’s attractions as a business destination. U.S. companies registered with the American-Ecuador Chamber of Commerce in Guayaquil include Citibank, Colgate-Palmolive, Continental Airlines, American Airlines, Gillette, IBM, Johnson and Johnson, Kimberly Clark, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Phillip Morris, and Shell. This list is only likely to grow as word spreads that, excellent business climate aside, Guayaquil offers other unparalleled advantages: year-round sun, a renovated and spirited city, pristine beaches within an hour’s drive, exotic nature parks 15 minutes from the city center, and a sizzling nightlife when the working day is done.