San Juan Sets Sights on Jáchal Free Zone Tender After 30-Year Delay

FTZ News: San Juan province is working to call an international tender for the Jáchal free trade zone before year-end. The project has been pending for three decades.
According to Acero y Roca, the call depends on two conditions: approval of a new operating regulation by National Economy Minister Caputo and a court order allowing possession of the land.

Alfredo Aciar, Secretary of Coordination for Productive Development, said the province is waiting for Caputo’s approval of the new regulation at the Fiesta del Sol. He said the previous regulation is from the 1990s and many things have changed. Issues linked to innovation or the knowledge economy did not exist and were not covered. He said the province has been more specific on foreign trade operations for mining, which has technical issues that must be taken into account. Large-scale mining did not exist in San Juan in the 1990s and was not specifically covered. These are technical details but they have to be enabled because they are the regulation under which the project will operate.

Aciar said the expropriation file is already at the Fiscalía de Estado, with budget and everything in order for the prosecutor to start the case, if it has not already started. He said when the case advances, at some point the judge will call them to carry out possession acts on the land.

He said he cannot call a tender without the operating regulation or a judge who says he can use the land, because otherwise he would be tendering on nothing. He said if Caputo approves the regulation and the judge allows possession before year-end, the province will call the tender at that moment.
The province will tender the project so a private company takes charge of construction and operation of the Zona Franca Jáchal.

Several companies will bid and one will win to carry out both. Aciar said the idea is to take a couple of months to review the offers and award the contract. Once awarded, the winning company starts construction, which can take between nine months and one year. He said the free trade zone, if these issues are resolved, will be operational in 2028.

Aciar said the zone is a piece of San Juan territory where everything that enters, is produced or has value added does not pay national taxes. It does not pay VAT, income tax, bank debit and credit taxes or internal taxes. He said there are many taxes in the country and this scheme gives a concrete advantage for the development that is coming. National Route 150 is a strategic connection for the Jáchal hub. The evaluation and selection commission designated by Governor Marcelo Orrego will lead the competitive process.