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Employers demand measures to boost productivity
Posted On 20 Dec 2017
Ecuadornews:
The Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor) expressed its concern due to the recent decisions taken by the government’s economic authorities, since they consider that these do not refer to the commitments assumed in the national dialogue convened by President Lenin Moreno.
Iván Ontaneda, Chairman of the Board of Fedexpor, said that the sector requires measures that generate confidence and competitiveness. “Ecuador is an expensive country to produce, it does not collaborate with competitiveness and therefore with the growth of exports.” He added that adequate policies are needed to generate more employment and, above all, to help sustain dollarization in Ecuador.
Through the different sectors of production such as fishing, cocoa, flowers, banana and coffee, Fedexpor presented several points that must be addressed; among them the recognition of a policy of the export sector, through the simplified return of taxes.
In 2015, this mechanism was established in order to be able to return some competitiveness through the refund of taxes for tariff raw materials and capital goods that are imported.
However, this mechanism stopped paying in 2016, pending a commitment to the sector that exceeds 100 million dollars. According to Daniel Legarda, CEO of Fedexpor, this commitment has been unknown by the Minister of Finance, arguing that the sector has not complied with the requirements “which lacks all veracity” he said.
Among other topics, they request to review the compensation mechanisms of Tax Credit Certificates; expiration of tariff preferences under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP); Customs Control Rate; Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs); Income Tax, among others. They call for dialogue, but more so that it generates results. They also support the popular consultation because they believe that ‘years ago’ the country’s institutions were lost. (I)
