Free Trade Zone
The Punta Arenas Free Trade Zone (FTZ) started up in 1977 and is the most important business platform of the Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia.
In its more than 53 hectares (130 acres), along with its extension zone, a strong commercial, trading and industrial activity is carried out, where currently more than 960 users perform diverse actions, such as: imports, exports, purchasing, storage, exhibition, transformation, packaging, processing and marketing, receiving more than 9,7 million visitors per year, with total sales exceeding US$ 450 million annually (2017)
The FTZ aims to simplify and ease foreign trade in terms of imports; promoting price reductions in foreign goods to local producer and also to those regions where the franchise is extended.
To achieve this, ZonAustral or SRI, the franchisee, runs and manages a franchise with a tax and customs exemption regime, through which local people, visitors, companies and institutions can access to extensive benefits and special conditions for the development of their businesses and supplying.
ZonAustral holds the essential facilities (dry and cold cargo warehousing, public storage yards for vehicles, plots for commercial and industrial projects and a shopping center), along with qualified staff to advise companies on the use and benefits of the franchise.
Since November 2004, the benefits of the franchise were extended to the south of the country in the Aisén Region and the Palena Province, providing both industrial and trade development along with improving the quality of life of their inhabitants.