Zonas Francas en la promoción del comercio exterior

Abstract

The objective of the article is to show the contributions made by free zones (FZs) to international trade in the course of the last decade (2010-2019). To carry out this, the tax, customs and exchange benefits granted to users were identified from the Colombian legislation, in addition the movements of income and exits were specified and they were contrasted with the imports and exports of FZ respectively. The data were taken in US dollars in current terms. In order to determine the percentage share of trade generated in FZs, the data were disaggregated by type of FZ. An average trend was found in the participation of international trade of 12% for exports (the largest participants, in terms of diversification, are the multi-user EPZs) and 10% for imports (being the single-company EPZs the largest participants). There is evidence of the stagnation of exports and the orientation of production to the national customs territory (TAN) and the need to articulate the public sector with the private sector for the promotion of exports.