ZPE Ceará receives award from the Financial Times, in Tenerife, Spain.

Ceará 247 - The Ceará Free Trade Zone (ZPE Ceará) was honored in Tenerife, Spain, during the XXI Conference of Free Trade Zones of the Americas, by the FDI publication of the British newspaper Financial Times. The award involved two categories: high recognition - Best Free Trade Zone in the Americas and Best Free Trade Zone in Infrastructure Upgrading.

The president of the Ceará Export Processing Zone (ZPE Ceará), Mário Lima Júnior, received the award from the regional director of the Financial Times newspaper, Charlotte Lloyd. The Federal Government attended the ZPE Ceará award ceremony in Tenerife, represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Council of Export Processing Zones, Thaise Dutra, from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC).

According to Mário Lima, the Financial Times award is recognition of the effort made by the Government of Ceará, together with the state-owned company's team, to provide the Ceará Export Processing Zone (ZPE Ceará) with a complete infrastructure to receive investments of all sizes. "This work is being carried out with the strategic guidance of the State Secretary for International Affairs, Antonio Balhmann, who has been promoting the excellent image of ZPE Ceará and also of the State, both within and outside the country," he explains.

According to Antonio Balhmann, Governor Camilo Santana has given full support to the Ceará Export Processing Zone (ZPE Ceará) and has made all the necessary infrastructure investments for the project, to bring more development to Ceará. “With the expansion of ZPE Ceará, that is, with the incorporation of 2 new hectares, the ZPE now has an area available for a free zone for the next 50 years,” he explains. Balhmann emphasizes that ZPE Ceará is now investing in attracting investments in various areas, including ornamental stones, targeting the American market, and components for the oil industry, targeting Latin America, through Chinese companies.

According to Balhmann, the project to install the Chinese refinery in the Ceará Export Processing Zone (ZPE Ceará) is well underway. He reveals that in the coming days, he will return to China with the Governor to present the refinery project to the Chinese bank that intends to finance it. “In 2016, ZPE Ceará also received awards in four categories from the FDI, totaling six international awards in two years. All of this makes ZPE Ceará even more attractive to international investors,” he concludes.

Source: Press Office of the Government of Ceará