Good practice Imported

Zonamerica — Uruguay's Premier Technology and Business Services Free Zone

Uruguay · Montevideo · See the Uruguay profile · See the Montevideo profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 54% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Uruguay's first private Free Zone (1987), Zonamerica hosts 350+ multinationals and tech companies — including TCS, Sabre and Merck — employing 10,000 workers and generating 1.82% of Uruguay's GDP; twice named Best Free Zone in the Americas.

350+

Companies operating on site (2024)

10,000+

Total on-site employment

1.82%

Share of Uruguay's GDP

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: Zonamerica S.A.
Period: 1987–present
Keywords: free zone, technology services, logistics, finance, business services, FDI

Context

Zonamerica was created in 1987 as Uruguay's first private Free Zone under the national Free Zone law, exempting tenant companies from national taxes. Located just outside Montevideo, the campus offers a tier-3 data centre and modern office/logistics facilities as a gateway for multinational companies serving Latin American and global markets.

Results

By 2024, over 350 companies were operating on site -- including TCS (grown from 15 to 600+ employees since 2002), Sabre (950 employees) and Merck -- with total on-site employment exceeding 10,000 workers. A census by Uruguay's National Institute of Statistics (INE) found Zonamerica contributes 1.82% of Uruguay's GDP. The zone was named Best Free Zone in the Americas by AZFA (2011) and fDi Magazine (2014).

Implementation

Indicative cost: Very high (> €5M)
Time to results: Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills: Zonamerica zone management and infrastructure operations

Conditions for success

National Free Zone law providing tax exemption for tenants
World-class shared infrastructure (tier-3 data centre, logistics)
Positioning as a regional gateway for multinational business services

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-26
Zonamerica S.A. — accessed 2026-06-26
Zonamerica official — accessed 2026-06-26
Uruguay XXI — Zonamerica profile — accessed 2026-06-26
Wikipedia — Zonamerica — accessed 2026-06-26
LatAm FDI — Uruguay industrial parks overview — accessed 2026-06-26

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 67/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 54% in this catalogue (819 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Evidence of impact / measured results3/3

INE census documents 1.82% of Uruguay's GDP; AZFA (2011) and fDi Magazine/Financial Times (2014) independently recognised it as Best Free Zone in the Americas; 350+ companies and 10,000 workers confirmed by official Zonamerica and Uruguay XXI sources.

Transferability / demonstrated replication1/3

Zonamerica operates as a single campus; the Free Zone model is defined by Uruguayan law and has not been physically replicated by this operator in other cities or countries.

Scalability2/3

Grew continuously since 1987 to 350+ resident companies and 10,000+ workers; the DC1 data centre and logistics expansion show ongoing physical development, though growth is campus-bounded.

Sustainability / continuity3/3

Over 35 years of continuous operation (1987–2024) anchored by Uruguay's Free Zone law, long-term anchor tenants (Sabre, TCS, Merck), and a tier-3 data centre investment, confirming deep structural sustainability.

Innovation2/3

Pioneering private Free Zone in Uruguay (1987), innovative for Latin America; the model is now widely replicated regionally and the zone's innovation is incremental rather than disruptive.

Inclusiveness / equity1/3

10,000 on-site workers represent significant local employment, but no specific equity, gender or social-inclusion programmes are documented for the campus.

Multi-stakeholder collaboration2/3

Public-private model embedded in Uruguay's Free Zone legal framework, with the National Institute of Statistics (INE) monitoring impact; anchored by long-term multinational leases, though co-governance beyond regulatory compliance is limited.

Cite this

Evidoria. Zonamerica — Uruguay's Premier Technology and Business Services Free Zone. Persistent ID: b62d3f2d-923b-4cfe-9d42-79e88e9b006a.

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