Senate Committee approves creation of Export Processing Zone in Macapá

The creation of the Export Processing Zone (ZPE) in the Metropolitan Region of Macapá (RMM) was approved this Tuesday (21) by the Regional Development Commission (CDR). The bill by senator Lucas Barreto (PSD-AP) received a favorable report by senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP) and now goes to the Economic Affairs Committee (CAE).

The project’s justification, according to the author, is the connection between regional navigation carried out through the Amazon, Tapajós and Madeira rivers and long-distance navigation in the Atlantic Ocean and, through the Panama Canal, in the Pacific Ocean. This has aroused the interest of national investors in optimizing the transport logistics used, since the ferries that bring grain for export almost always return empty.

Furthermore, Lucas Barreto highlights that the RMM port system has a wide supply of electrical energy. The economic potential of Amapá also stands out, which involves supplying the Amazon and the Center-West with important agricultural inputs.

In his report, Randolfe highlighted that the creation of an ZPE in the Metropolitan Region of Macapá could generate a series of benefits for the region also in terms of the possibility of exporting other products and increasing the regional development of the state, which still has a per capita income. capita of only 60% of the national average.

The rapporteur made editorial amendments to the project, such as removing the mention of “other measures” in the text, since the focus of the proposal is only the creation of the ZPE.