Governor invites Spanish firms to invest in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla on Tuesday invited Spanish firms to invest in the Caribbean island.

Garcia Padilla brought to a close the "Invest in Puerto Rico" business conference, organized in San Juan by the Madrid daily El Pais, where he stressed to all present that the island is open for business.

Puerto Rico can serve as a bridge for Spanish companies who want get into the United States market, given the island's status as a U.S. commonwealth, he said.

"Puerto Rico has greater access to the U.S. market than any country of Latin America," the governor said.

"With financial regulations like the U.S. but outside the American tax system," Garcia Padilla said, noting that Puerto Rico can offer foreign companies tax rates as low as 4 percent.

But the island's human capital, he said, "is what foreign companies with a presence in Puerto Rico value most."

As for plans to make the territory even more competitive, he said a plan is in the works to lower energy prices, reduce crime and combat unemployment.

He said that soon a balanced budget will go into effect, the first in many years, an example of how things are changing in Puerto Rico.

Changes that companies from different countries have caught onto, companies like the airlines Avianca and Air Europa, which a month ago inaugurated direct flights between Madrid and San Juan, and Germany's Lufthansa Technik, a reflection of the confidence that multinational firms have in Puerto Rico, he said. EFE

Governor invites Spanish firms to invest in Puerto Rico