Business Opportunities and Investments in the MERCOSUR zone: a market of more than 200 million consumers URUGUAY, A GATEWAY TO THE MERCOSUR

Transcription

1 Business Opportunities and Investments in the MERCOSUR zone: a market of more than 200 million consumers URUGUAY, A GATEWAY TO THE MERCOSUR Lausanne, Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace April 2007 Co-organised with:

2 PROGRAM ME Tuesday, 17 th April :45 Reception of Participants 09:20 09:40 Introduction Prof. Eleanor Cashin Ritaine Director, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (Switzerland) Mr. Stephan Oetiker Member of Senior Management, Osec Business Network Switzerland 09:40 12:30 MERCOSUR and Uruguay A User s Handbook 09:40 10:00 The Unique Position of Uruguay and the MERCOSUR as a Target for European Investments Mr. Jorge Lepra Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines (Uruguay) 10:00 10:20 Switzerland and Uruguay: how to profit from a longstanding economic and cultural relationship to conquer new markets both in Switzerland and in Latin America Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher Head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police (Switzerland) 10:20 10:40 MERCOSUR and Uruguay: History, Outlook and Legal Framework for Investments Prof. Sergio Abreu Professor, University of Montevideo; Member of the Uruguayan Senate; Counsel for Foreign Investments at the Uruguayan Chamber of Industries; President of the Senate Commission on International Commerce (Uruguay) 10:40 11:10 Coffee break 11:10 11:30 Mercosur: a Risk or an Opportunity for Swiss SMEs? Mr. Peter Widmer CEO of Rhenus Alpina AG and President of the Swiss Export Association (Switzerland) 11:30 11:50 Switzerland's Bilateral Investment Protection Treaties with Latin American Countries: Legal Developments and Economic Relevance Mr. Michael Schmid Attorney-at-Law, LLM, Deputy Head of the International Investment and Multinational Enterprises Unit, SECO (Switzerland) 11:50 12:10 Italian Bilateral Investment Treaties with South American States, with Special Reference to the Treaty with Uruguay Prof. Dario Pettinato Professor, University of Catania (Italy)

3 12:10 12h30 Doing Business in the Cono Sur & Services offered by Osec to help Swiss Companies Mrs. Norma Alemann Managing Director Swiss-Argentine Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Aires (Argentina) Mr. Ricardo Pereira Trade Officer, Swiss Business Hub in São Paulo (Brazil) Mr. Carlo Zingg Trade Officer, Embassy of Switzerland, Santiago de Chile (Chile) Mr. Lane M. Kingstone Senior Consultant, The Americas, Osec Business Network Switzerland 12:30 13:00 Discussion 13:00 14:00 Lunch 14:00 17:00 New Technologies and Other Fields of Investment 14:00 14:20 Investments in the Fields of Intellectual Property and Electronic Commerce Prof. Beatriz Bugallo Professor of Commercial and Intellectual Property, University of Montevideo; Attorney at Law (Uruguay) 14:20 14:40 The Role of Business & Technology Parks in International Investments in Uruguay and the Mercosur Prof. Isidoro Hodara Director of the Committee of Free Zones of the Americas; Vice- President of Zonamérica (Uruguay) 14:40 15:10 Discussion 15:10 15:40 Coffee break 15:40 16:00 CSEM do Brasil & MicroFab do Brasil - A New Venture Dr. Thomas Hinderling CEO CSEM (Centre Suisse d Electronique et de Microtechnique), Neuchâtel (Switzerland) 16:00 16:20 Cooperation between Switzerland and Chile in Cutting Edge Technology Development Mr. Cino Robin Castelli CEO Macroswiss S.A. (Switzerland) 16:20 16:40 Investments in New Biotechnologies Dr. Alberto Nieto Director of the Pando Technologic Pole (Uruguay) 16:20 16:50 Discussion 17:30 18:30 Reception at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law: Comparative Tasting of Swiss, Italian and Uruguayan Wines 19:00 Evening Programme and Dinner: Carne Uruguaya a la Parrilla Typical Uruguayan Meat Barbecue Courtesy of the Uruguayan Embassy in Switzerland

4 Wednesday, 18 th April :00 Reception of Participants 09:30 13:00 Investment Tools and the Economics of Investment 09:30 10:10 Legal Framework of Investments in Uruguay: Incentives and Guarantees with Special Reference to Banking and other Financial Fields Prof. Ricardo Olivera Emeritus Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Montevideo; Chairman of the Uruguayan Centre for Financial Studies (Uruguay) 10:10 10:30 Tax Treatment of Investments in Intellectual Property Dr. Virginia Melgar Principal Director of the Department of Legal Services, European Patent Office, Munich (Germany) 10:30 10:50 Taxation of Foreign Investments in Uruguay and the MERCOSUR: Taking Advantage of Tax Benefits Prof. Alberto Faget Professor of Tax Law, University of Montevideo; Senior Partner, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Montevideo (Uruguay) 10:50 11:20 Coffee break 11:20 11:40 Increasing Confidence and Reducing Risks through Certified Quality Management Systems Mr. Theodor Zahner Managing Director, Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems (SQS) (Switzerland) 11:40 12:00 Logistics Business in Brazil; Start Up and Potential Mr. Bernhard C. Bärtschi Head of Division, Via Mat Services (Switzerland) 12:00 12:20 Advantages of doing business in and with Argentina Mr. Alfredo Rodriguez (TBC) President of the International Conference for Managerial Efficiency in :20 12:50 Discussion 12:50 14:00 Lunch 14:00 16:15 Political Risks and Settlement of Investment Disputes 14:00 14:20 Potential Risks Faced by Foreign Investors in Latin America: Some Aspects of International Law Dr. Alberto Aronovitz Legal Counsel, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (Lausanne), Visiting Professor of International Investments at the Buchmann Faculty of Law, University of Tel-Aviv (Israel)

5 14:20 14:40 Potential Risks Faced by Investors in Uruguay: a Historical Perspective Prof. Enrique Hernandez Professor, University of Montevideo (Uruguay) 14:40-15:00 Dispute Resolution, the Swiss and Italian Experience in Latin America Prof. Eugen Bucher Professor Emeritus, University of Berne (Switzerland) Prof. Ugo Patroni-Griffi Professor of Commercial and Corporate Law, University of Bari; Swiss Honorary Consul in Puglia (Italy) 15:00 15:20 Dispute Resolution in the MERCOSUR and the Uruguayan Experience Prof. Didier Opertti Badán Academic Member of the University of Montevideo; General Secretary of the Latin American Integration Association (Uruguay) 15:20 15:40 Coffee break 15:40 16:30 Investing in the MERCOSUR: Exploiting the Legal and Business Potentials Mr. André Calame-Rosset Head, Central and South America, Swiss Organisation for Facilitating Investments (SOFI) (Switzerland) Mr. Christophe Etter Honorary Chairman of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce (Switzerland) Prof. Jean-Pierre Sortais Professor, University of Lausanne (Switzerland) Prof. Andreas Ziegler Professor, University of Lausanne (Switzerland) Mr. Stephan Oetiker Member of Senior Management, Osec Business Network Switzerland 16:30 End of the Conference

6 GENERAL INFORMATION VENUE: Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace Place du Port CH-1000 Lausanne 6 Tel: +41 (0) Fax : +41 (0) reservation@brp.ch REGISTRATION (the maximum number of participants is limited) via our website: PRESENTATION SERVICE Representatives of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law will offer a special individual presentation service for participants who would like to meet other participants or speakers from Uruguay. Swiss Government Trade Representatives from Argentina, Brazil and Chile will be on site at the conference and are also available to participants for complimentary one on one meetings on Thursday, April 19 th and Friday, April 20 th. Participants have the possibility of submitting questions to the trade representatives in advance and will receive feedback about business potential in their markets. Please contact Osec Business Network Switzerland to organise your complimentary meeting. Contact: Mr. Lane M. Kingstone; lkingstone@osec.ch; Tel: +41 (0) REGISTRATION CONDITIONS Conference: Two day conference (including coffee breaks and lunches): Early bird / until 28 February / CHF 490 Regular registration / until 19 March / CHF 590 Late registration / until 14 April / CHF 690 (subject to the availability of seats) One day conference (including coffee breaks and lunch): Early bird / CHF 260 Regular registration / CHF 310 Late registration / CHF 360 Dinner: Comparative Wine Tasting and Uruguayan Barbecue Dinner, courtesy of the Uruguayan Embassy in Switzerland, April 17 th As registered participant / CHF 75 As participant in this event only / CHF 95 Special rates: Several participants belonging to the same organisation or belonging to one of our conference partners benefit from a reduction of 10%. Confederation employees and members of academic institutions benefit from a reduction of 30%, students only attending conference (lunches and dinner excluded) benefit from a reduction of 50%.

7 PAYMENT Upon reception of your electronic registration, you will receive our confirmation and invoice (with payment instructions). Bank fees on payment transfers are not included in the registration rates stated above and must be paid by participants. Cancellation: CHF 50 will be retained for any cancellation reaching us until March 30. No possible refund as of March 31. ACCOMMODATION For Early Bird participants, the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law has concluded an agreement with the Hotel Lausanne Beau-Rivage Palace (5 Stars) for accommodation in a single room Confort for CHF 440/day, and with the Hotel Angleterre & Résidence (4 Stars) for CHF 285/day. The number of rooms is limited and the arrangement is offered on the basis of, first come, first served. Participants are kindly requested to contact the hotels directly: Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace ***** Place du Port / CH 1000 Lausanne 6 Switzerland Tel. +41(0) Fax +41(0) reservation@brp.ch Hotel Angleterre & Résidence **** Place du Port 11 / CH 1006 Lausanne Switzerland Tel. +41(0) Fax +41(0) resi@brp.ch Lausanne Tourisme (other accomodation) Av. de Rhodanie 2 / CH 1007 Lausanne Switzerland Tel. +41 (0) Fax +41 (0) info@lausanne-tourisme.ch FURTHER INFORMATION Swiss Institute of Comparative Law Dorigny, CH-1015 Lausanne Tel. +41(0) Fax +41(0) Dr. Alberto Aronovitz (Programme information) alberto.aronovitz@isdc-dfjp.unil.ch Ms. Elodie Arnaud (Public relations) elodie.arnaud@isdc-dfjp.unil.ch Ms. Martine Do (Administrative information) martine.do@isdc-dfjp.unil.ch

8 SPONSORS Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems (SQS) With the support of: Chambre fribourgeoise du commerce, de l industrie et des services Chambre vaudoise du commerce et de l industrie