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Published: March 19th 2011
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Dear Reader
As I'm sure you already know, the original inhabitants of the area we know as Uruguay were hunter gatherers. The most prominent tribe was the Charrúa Indians, who were driven south by the Guaraní Indians from what is now Paraguay. The name Uruguay comes from the Guaraní language and means "river where the painted birds live".
As Guapo points out, the South American Indians were not the only ones to name places with descriptive phrases. Maribyrnong, as in the Maribyrnong River (in Melbourne), is said to come from Australian Aboriginal words meaning “I can hear a ringtail possum”.
Europeans arrived in the territory of present-day Uruguay in 1516, but as there wasn't a lot of gold and silver, settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries was limited. I read that these days a lot of people retire to Uruguay from other countries. Many foreign nationals come from the United States of North America and Europe. Why? Because they feel “safer” in Uruguay and the climate is good. Best of all, Uruguay has never experienced an earthquake, tsunami, cyclone or hurricane.
Being part of a global economy, Uruguay welcomes the retirement funds these
What's on the menu?
Expatriates love the lifestyle ... new additions to the population bring. In 2008, it was reported that over 40 per cent of all deposits into Uruguayan banks were by non-Uruguayans. There's a growing demand for safe deposit boxes, which banks and financial institutions are doing their best to meet. But what strikes me as even more obliging is that Uruguayan banks have three types of currency accounts to choose from: Uruguayan pesos, US dollars, or euros, which allow the depositor to choose the currency which gives him or her the greatest confidence.
I suppose it helps that any income generated (pensions or social security payments, for example) outside Uruguay is not taxable in Uruguay. I imagine this would also apply to businesses based in Uruguay but which generate their income overseas. There are many other ways of attracting foreign investment for continued economic growth. Some of the OECD countries don’t like the way Uruguay protects investors. For a while, Uruguay was blacklisted as a “tax haven”, but apparently it’s now been moved to the “grey list”.
Most of the retired expats live in the coastal areas, in ritzy suburbs, enjoying a laid back beachside lifestyle. Contrast this with the inland where Uruguayan families
are busy raising cattle and sheep. Imagine a national cattle herd of 12 million head – that’s more than 3 head of cattle per person. Beef is a major export commodity. Around 54 per cent of the total number of cattle is in the hands of 11 per cent of farmers who have a minimum of 500 head. At the other end are the 38 per cent of farmers on smaller land holdings who have cattle herds below a hundred head. These are the families who feed the nation, and bring in export income.
Many international companies are currently investing in Uruguayan meat packing plants, a trend that seems set to continue. Uruguay is committed to quality and has instituted a policy which makes it possible to monitor an animal's development from the moment it is born and until it reaches consumers as a product. And who doesn't eat beef? I've read that Uruguay ranks second worldwide in beef consumption per capita, with 53 kg per person per year, but recent reports say the country has overtaken Argentina who used to have the highest level of beef consumption. Apparently the Argentinian cattle herd has shrunk in the last few
years as investors have fled (no doubt because someone changed the rules).
Uruguay produces about 600 thousand tons of beef a year - 150 thousand tons are consumed in the domestic market, and 450 thousand tons are exported. Beef products are exported to over 100 countries and account for 25%!o(MISSING)f exports. Good news for the Dutch, French, Brazilians and others who are investing in Uruguayan grass fed cattle. Australia has a large beef industry too (but consumption per capita is much lower than in Uruguay). A few weeks ago I met a man at a party who knew everything there was to know about Australian beef, and how it compared with beef produced in the United States. I asked whether he'd ever been to Uruguay or Argentina for comparison, but the answer was no.
I'm much more of a vegetable than meat person, but Guapo can't live without his
bife and is already salivating at the thought of his first
chivito in October!
Bye for now
Guapita
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Kim
non-member comment
That's a lot of beef
Uraguay sounds like a much better place to escape to than other popular destinations like Spain. The beef diet might put me off though as I too like my veggies and salad. How do you think you will go eating out in Uraguay?