According to the Agency for Private Investment and Export Promotion (AIPEX), the agriculture sector registered an increase of around 17 thousand tons of diverse products last year, particularly cereals.
In the beverage production business, the increase was about 65 million liters, especially UHF milk, condensed milk and juices, and in the food processing business, almost six million tons of different products were reached, including pasta. , wheat flour, corn flour, biscuits and margarine.
Likewise, there was a substantial increase in hygiene and cleaning products, such as detergents, toilet paper and diapers, in the order of one million boxes.
According to a note from the Government, foreign direct investment has also allowed the creation of a tractor plant, another of electronic equipment (smartphones, tablets and computers), refrigeration equipment and household appliances (air conditioning and televisions), and ceramics for civil construction.
"As domestic production capacity and the supply of domestic products increase, we also see a progressive drop in the volume of imports of these products," said Lello Francisco, executive director of AIPEX.
In 2018, for example, imports accounted for around 43 percent of the volume of products consumed in the country and dropped to 36 percent in 2019. Last year, until September, the import volume dropped even further, reaching 22 Percent.
"The trend of imports is decreasing and results not only from the increase in domestic production capacity, due to investments in the productive sector, but also from a combination of economic factors, namely measures in the foreign exchange market and policies to support national industry" , justified the executive director.
In general, Lello Francisco said that the economic impacts of the implemented projects are positive, in view of the evident signs of the bet on national production, with an increasing trend of investments in the sectors of the manufacturing industry (especially in the food processing sector), agriculture and trade, including services.
This year, AIPEX's efforts are focused on attracting and attracting investments to the agricultural sectors, aiming at increasing the production of cereals, oilseeds, legumes, as well as for certain axes of the production chains linked to the textile industry, particularly the production of raw material, and for industry, fisheries and mines.
