Indústrias maquiladoras como estratégia de desenvolvimento sócio-econômico no Paraguai

Abstract

Maquilas were established in the Republic of Paraguay by Law 1.064 of 1997 and regulated by Decree nº. 9.585 of July 2000. The Maquila Law, as it is known, corresponds to a production system which a foreign company installed in Paraguayan territory can produce goods and services for export, under a special regime, which includes benefits such as temporary suspension of taxes over imports of raw materials and the charging of a minimum fee of 1% over the value of exported products that were produced under this regime. The general objective of the doctoral thesis is to understand the effects of maquila on industrial development in Paraguay, as well their effects on the creation of formal employments. In this doctoral thesis, we present a socioeconomic characterization of Paraguay; We analyze the legislation regarding maquiladora companies; We characterize the investments of maquiladora companies by activities sectors; We analyze the effects of a set of tax incentives: Maquila Law, Investment Law and Industrial Parks Law on the development of the place; We discuss the effects and implications of maquiladora companies in the employment generation and detail the productive dynamics of maquiladoras by activity sector. The research proposal of this work is guided by the writings of Harvey (2005) on the issue of spatial structure that is related to Marx's theory of capitalist accumulation and also to the use of territory, as pointed out by Santos and Silveira (2016). We prioritize primary field surveys, based on interviews, as well as formal and informal conversations with workers, businessmen and government representatives who work directly with maquiladora sector. The results indicate that the performance of maquiladora companies has generated a unique dynamic in the country, with immediate effects on the generation of direct and indirect jobs, also indirectly affecting the real estate sector and civil construction, trade in consumer goods for the workers and intermediate consumer goods, inputs and raw materials for companies. It was also verified that there is professional qualification and technological transfer between the head office and the maquiladora, which also allows to enhance the productive integration and insertion of the country in the global value chain.