En estos tiempos de constantes cambios y permanentes innovaciones, contar con los métodos y canales adecuados de información es fundamental. Por ello, alineados con las nuevas exigencias de comunicación de hoy, Vouga Abogados se enorgullece en presentar sus renovadas plataformas en redes sociales.
A través de sus páginas en Facebook y Twitter, el estudio se propone mantener a sus clientes actualizados y al tanto de las últimas noticias y novedades legislativas. Asimismo, se publicarán artículos prácticos, guías y materiales de utilidad para el desenvolvimiento diario en el dinámico contexto en que nos encontramos actualmente.
La Cámara de Comercio Internacional (ICC) ha designado a la Abogada Marta Martínez, asociada de Vouga Abogados, como Presidenta de la Comisión de Competencia para Paraguay. La ICC es la mayor organización empresarial orientada a la promoción del comercio internacional, una conducta de negocios responsable y un acercamiento global a la regulación comercial, a modo de acelerar el crecimiento inclusivo y sustentable. Es un organismo de representación que habla con conocimiento de causa en nombre de las empresas y organizaciones empresariales de todos los sectores procedentes de cualquier rincón del planeta.
El comité paraguayo de la ICC es relativamente nuevo y viene desarrollando importantes actividades a través de sus diversas comisiones, entre las que se encuentra la de Competencia y respecto de la cual existe mucho optimismo acerca de lo que ella puede lograr para el bien del ecosistema empresarial paraguayo. A la fecha, la Comisión de Competencia se encuentra proyectando diversas actividades con la presencia de destacados referentes del Derecho de la Competencia.
Marta Martínez es Abogada por la Universidad Nacional de Asunción, integrante del cuadro de honor. Cuenta con un Máster en Derecho Público y otro en Gobierno y Administración Pública, ambos por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Actualmente se encuentra en la etapa de defensa de su tesis doctoral ante la misma universidad española, la cual lleva el título de “El soft law en defensa de la Competencia”.
Nos complace compartir con clientes y amigos la designación de nuestra colega Marta Martínez como miembro de tan destacado organismo internacional, ya que ello reafirma el compromiso de Vouga Abogados de contar con profesionales de primer nivel y promover constantemente el crecimiento de los mismos.
Si desea más información sobre Derecho de la Competencia y su potencial en el Paraguay, no dude en contactar a Marta Martínez (mmartinez@vouga.com.py).
VOUGA ABOGADOS was selected by the prestigious English publication LEGAL 500 in Band 1 in Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions; Litigation & Dispute Resolution; and Environmental. It is one of only two firms in Paraguay with recommendations in the 7 existing practice areas for Paraguay (Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions; Banking & Finance; Litigation & Dispute Resolution; Tax; Environmental; Labor and Intellectual Property). It is also one of only two Paraguayan firms with three practice areas in Band 1.
The Firm is proud that its Partners were selected as Leading Lawyers in Corporate & Mergers & Acquisitions; Banking & Finance; Litigation & Dispute Resolution; and Labor & Employment. In addition, 13 lawyers were recommended in all 7 practice areas and 4 were selected in the “Next Generation Lawyers” category.
We are grateful for the trust placed in us by our clients, who are the basis for the achievements of the Firm and its professionals.
In recent years, Paraguay has attracted numerous factories and companies under the “maquila” program. This is mainly due to the new policies and incentives that the national government has been promoting since 2000: low-cost electricity, less onerous labor regulations, suspension of import tariffs, a single 1% tax on domestic value added and other additional benefits. All this makes Paraguay a much more favorable scenario for producers, who prefer to leave their own country to set up their businesses in the Republic.
The maquila is a production system whereby companies located in Paraguay produce goods and services for export. It is developed between a parent company -contracting company located abroad- and a maquiladora -contracted company located in Paraguay-, which is responsible for developing the various production and value-adding processes. Such maquiladora company may, in turn, subcontract to other companies in the country in order to carry out the necessary processes within its productive structure. Any individual or legal entity, whether domestic or foreign, domiciled in the country and authorized to carry out commercial acts may operate as a maquiladora entity.
This production modality emerged in 1997 with the enactment of Law No. 1064 “On the export maquiladora industry”, which was regulated by Decree No. 9585 in 2000. The first operations under this regime started a year later, with 115 factories having been installed in Paraguay so far -89 of them since 2013-, while some 20 are preparing to start operations.
The maquila is nowadays in full expansion as a result of a joint work between the private and public sectors, through the National Council of Maquiladora Export Industries (CNIME), the Chamber of Maquiladora Companies of Paraguay (CEMAP) and other associations. In this context, the law firm Vouga Abogados has been involved in advising numerous maquila projects in Paraguay.
In order to strengthen management transparency and thus have an efficient organization to achieve its purposes, the National Directorate of Intellectual Property (DINAPI), by Resolution No. 11/2017, established new rules on the documentation required for the registration of assignment, transfer, license and other legal business in relation to registered trademarks.
The aforementioned resolution arose within the framework of a process of standardization of procedures and services in charge of DINAPI, a public entity in charge of the execution of the national Intellectual Property policy and of the application of the different rules that regulate intellectual rights -by virtue of Law 4798/12-.
In this sense, the resolution establishes that for the registration of assignment or transfer of rights over trademarks registered in the General Technical Directorate of Industrial Property (DGPI), the interested party must submit the original or authenticated copy of the Public Deed wherein the legal business to be registered is recorded for transactions carried out within the national territory, or the due apostille or consular authentication of the documents formalized abroad. Likewise, it regulates the procedures in cases of licenses of use and mergers of companies.
The aforementioned regulation also reminds and clarifies the requirements that the Public Deed to which it refers must comply with, finally instructing the Head Office of Legal Acts -depending on the DGPI- to promote strict compliance with the established provisions. In this way, since they are regulated acts, the acts registered in the absence of the indicated formalities will be null and void.
In case you need further information about the new registration procedure for assignment, transfer, license of use and other legal transactions, please contact Laura Lezcano (llezcano@vouga.com.py)
In accordance with governmental objectives, the Ministry of Public Works and Communications is developing various infrastructure projects nationwide, for which it is calling for bids from those interested in providing the required services.
Thus, for example, it foresees the construction of some 6,645 linear meters of bridges nationwide, including reinforced concrete, composite and metal bridges, at different points of the country. The goal would be the replacement of 12,000 linear meters of wooden bridges, having already been awarded more than 2,000 linear meters, while another more than 1,200 linear meters are under tender. This program began in 2015 and has resources until 2020, with financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and a counterpart from the Local Fund.
It is also implementing the outsourcing of the road cleaning service since 2015. This year, a call for bids has been issued for the maintenance of the domain strip by levels of service for a total of 1,853 km of roads throughout the country. With this new call for tenders, more than 4,000 km of roads have already been tendered in three years, which shows that the modality is proving to be a success.
Guaranteeing Paraguay's growth requires an investment of around US$ 1 billion in infrastructure works executed, paid, built and completed each year, according to what was stated by the Minister of Public Works and Communications, Ramón Jiménez Gaona at the 2017 Economy Congress “Economic Regulation and Competition” -held at the end of July-, which is equivalent to 3.5% of the Gross Domestic Product. Being that the General Budget of the Nation currently limits infrastructure investment in the MOPC to US$500 million per year, it is vital for said portfolio to create favorable conditions for private capital investment in public works through tools such as the Public-Private Partnership Law and Law No. 5074 on “Turnkey” Projects.
For more information on bidding processes or private equity investment in public works, please contact Perla Alderete (palderete@vouga.com.py) or Walter Vera (wvera@vouga.com.py).
Source: Ministry of Public Works and Communications.
The Executive has issued the regulatory decree of the Maternity Leave Law, which establishes that prenatal leave is the mother's optional leave, which may be taken two weeks before the birth of the child, for which purpose the estimated date of delivery must be determined by the attending physician.
As for postnatal leave, it includes the period of rest that the mother enjoys after the birth of the child, this rest period is 18 (eighteen) weeks. In the event that the mother has chosen to take prenatal leave, the period of leave would be reduced to 16 (sixteen) weeks.
This leave also corresponds to the worker who has a minor under six (6) months of age under his/her care, because he/she has been judicially granted guardianship as a protective measure.
100% of the extension of the above-mentioned leaves will be paid by the worker's social security, and if she does not have it, it will be paid by the employer.
The father shall be entitled to paid leave at the employer's expense for fourteen (14) continuous and uninterrupted days in the event of the birth of the child, which may be used from the moment of delivery.
The regulation also explains that the maternity allowance, which consists of the payment to the working woman on maternity leave, is 100% of the last taxable remuneration immediately prior to the use of the leave, as from the third year of effectiveness of the law.
The period of the subsidy must coincide with the period of pre- and post-natal leave and the payment of the subsidy is subject to the effective enjoyment of the maternity leave established in the Law.
On the other hand, the Social Security Institute is the entity in charge of paying the maternity leave allowance to all female workers affiliated to the social security system who are entitled to it in accordance with the provisions of these regulations.
The table below shows the payout % and the weeks of leave to be granted:
The Official Gazette of the Republic of Paraguay recently published the new Securities Market Law No. 5,810/17. Said Law regulates the public offering of securities and their issuances, public offering securities, stock exchanges, brokerage firms, and in general, other participants in the securities market, as well as the National Securities Commission.
It is worth mentioning that this regulation does not apply to issues made by the Executive Power through the Ministry of Finance or by the Central Bank of Paraguay.
The new law maintains in force the articles of the Civil Code and of Law No. 1163/97 “Regulating the Establishment of Commodities Exchanges” that do not contradict the recently enacted law. In addition, Law No. 1284/98 “Securities Market” and Art. 122 of Law No. 1,034/83 “Trader's Law” are repealed.
Should you require further information or a copy of the Law, please do not hesitate to contact Cynthia Fatecha (cfatecha@vouga.com.py) or Carlos Vouga (cvouga@vouga.com.py).
Vouga Abogados advised Tape Pora S.A. in all the contractual legal matters for obtaining the financing for the works related to the concession for the construction, duplication and adequacy of Route No. 7 “Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia” in the section between Pastoreo and Minga Guazú. The advice included the drafting of the contract for the acquisition of bonds, the trust agreement and all other legal documents necessary for the formalization of the transaction.
Six domestic banks and two foreign banks with local subsidiaries will finance 57% of the works. The banks signed agreements for the acquisition of bonds for Gs. 350,000,000,000,000, to be issued by the concessionaire Tape Porã through the Bolsa de Valores y Productos de Asunción S.A. for a term of 15 years, including a 2-year grace period, and a variable rate of 9% to 11.25% per annum, according to the installment payment term.
To provide security to investors, the structure also provides for the creation of an administration and source of payment trust, whereby Tape Pora transfers the entire right to collect tolls on the concessioned section of Route 7 to an autonomous patrimony that will be managed by Banco Atlas SAECA as trustee.
The banks GNB Paraguay, Familiar and Sudameris Bank will purchase bonds for 60 billion guaraníes each; Banco Itaú Paraguay will purchase bonds for 75 billion guaraníes; Banco Regional SAECA, for 65 billion guaraníes, while the banks Amambay and Bancop, and the financial company Solar will purchase bonds for 10 billion guaraníes each.
The total investment is USD 130,000,000, of which 57% will be covered by the bonds issued, and the other 43% with Tape Pora's own resources, i.e., generated by toll collection and shareholder contributions.
The work is scheduled to be completed in 28 months.
La apertura de ofertas será el miércoles 07 de junio a las 09:30, en el edificio central del Ministerio de Obras Públicas, bajo el llamado MOPC Nº 5/17 cuyo ID es 325818.
La obra se encuentra financiada por el Banco lnteramericano de Desarrollo (BID), y pretende beneficiar inicialmente a una población de 500.000 de habitantes y para luego extenderse 1.000.000 de habitantes.
Según la Dirección Nacional de Contrataciones Públicas (DNCP) el monto estimado para la inversión es de Gs. 104.430.000.000, para las zonas Bella Vista-Asunción.
