The state of Campeche seeks to depetrolize its economy with the development of a Special Economic Zone (EEZ), which was decreed on April this year.
It is expected that the SEZ will start operating in the first semester of 2019 with committed investments of 136 million US dollars from three companies, for the generation of 700 jobs in an initial phase.
“The way to depetrolize the state lies in training and development of human capital to meet requests for agroindustry, secondary petrochemical, basic chemistry and renewable energy”, explained in an interview José Berzunza, secretary of Economic Development of Campeche.
The area is located in three municipalities that account for 65% of the population of the state (Champoton, Del Carmen and Campeche). “There is already highly trained personnel in oil related issues, so we want these people to migrate from oil extraction issues to other oil industry related topics” said the official.
68% of Campeche’s GDP still depends on oil extraction, which has been affected by lower crude production at the Cantarell complex. The state is also negatively impacted by the drop in oil prices internationally since 2015, which in turn has led to cuts to the federal budget, including that of Pemex.
Prior to the arrival of private investment in 2019, work will begin in October 2018 on the development of infrastructure for production within the economic zone: electricity supply, water and gas supply.
At the same time, the municipalities of Del Carmen and Campeche will work on certification, training and financing programs for micro and small companies with the aim of integrating into the value chains of the companies that are set up in the area.
The SEZs are a project of the current administration that seeks to attract investment in the south-east areas of the country. Among the incentives that the federal government will grant, is the discount of 100% of the ISR in the first 10 years of operation, and the special treatment for the payment of VAT.
The government of Campeche is looking to offer other fiscal incentives such as reduction of payroll, property tax, transfer of ownership and lodging, explained the secretary of Economic Development.
Source: campechehoy.mx
