Soaring growth rates combined with two new pieces of legislation governing foreign investment and the mining industry have put Bolivia on the map for investors, but while lawyers welcome the advent of a clear legal framework, there remain question marks over how much change it will really bring about.
The new foreign investment law, enacted in April, aims to set out a framework for foreign investors entering Bolivia, by preventing the government from enacting foreign exchange controls, forbidding profit repatriation or restrictions on foreign investment, and identifying priority industries such as hydrocarbons, mining, tourism, agribusiness and textiles. While Bolivia has had an investment law since the 1990s, its interpretation by the government has often been uncertain, particularly in the past eight years since President Evo Morales, an outspoken critic of the industrialised world, has been in power. “It’s quite a relief to be able to say to potential clients that we do have a new investment law which should be recognised and respected by the current authorities,” says FERRERE (Bolivia) partner Carlos Pinto . “It’s certainly a step in the right path.”