Teak farms in Ecuador

Ecuador Teak Timber Investing:

We have finally found an affordable Ecuador teak timber investing opportunity in Ecuador. The simple fundamentals have always appealed. Teak is in growing demand. There is diminishing supply, plus a drastic need to stop logging rain forests where old teaks stand. The answer is teak plantations and Ecuador makes a great place to plant with 365 days a year of direct equatorial sunlight, lots of rain and close to the U.S. !

Ecuador Teak Timber Investing Potential:

The potential is around 20% per annum on a compounded basis for twenty years. That is a lot, about 40 times investment or about $400,000 return on a $10,000 investment! A tax attraction is that the first income does not come in until 2009 when the first thinning begins and though initial capital is expected to be returned within ten years, the big profits are in years 18-through 20 in the first major logging.

Teak logs exported to India market

The tropical species conjugate two variable keys for the business: time and productivity. Its growth demands of five to 10 years, in average, and although they can need up to 20 years, in the case of the tempered areas, the cycle is smaller if it is compared with the 100 years that require the natural forests of other species. In addition, the productivity by hectare "is 20 times greater or more, in the same earth surface", it indicates Raymond Keogh, head of the Unit the International on Teak, the OIMT.

Its production already implies 10% of the total production of all the types of forests in the world, in agreement with the Organization the Maderas International Tropicales (OIMT).

The forest business could generate currencies by more than $3000 millions annual dollars in a pair of decades, values the Forest National Commission.

In Logwood, Farming Santa Genoveva will invest $63 millions weights, points her chief of a main directorate of Medio Ambiente, Carlos Yong. Seeding 3.208 hectares of cedar and teak have, with a view to adding 20,000. The plan of businesses contemplates to the export from wood to Europe and the use of the wood of the raleo (originating of the trees less strong than they are cut to give space the best ones) for the production of pieces for floors of parquet, with destiny to the domestic market.

If you buy a teak farms, you will be solo owner of the land and trees. Easy investment, very profitable, and we take care of the farms.

All the teak farms properties will be signed in Government Public Notary and with inscription in Ecuadorian Ministry of Agriculture.

We help you in full, and you can come anytime to see your own property.

You have found an excellent opportunity in sustainable logging. It is very good markets for the this wood. We are exporter the teak logs and timber, and the strong demand made easy sales.

In Ecuador to obtain a permission to do a sustainable harvesting according to the new legislation it is inmediately. All areas where we believe a sustainable harvesting is possible, and use the income to pay back our cost of developement for other land.

It is simple negotiating a deal with Ecuadorian exporters and European importers of lumber and the prices on lumber are the same, or even higher than what we estimated earlier. So it is an excellent investment. 

Make the big difference: Buy a complete own property than invest in participation of stocks.

Numbers talk alone, growth in the institutional investment in timberland:

Good points about investing in Ecuador include...

Investment from abroad is welcome. Equal treatment is given to local and foreign investors. Practically all sectors are open to investors. Profits and capital can be repatriated without restriction. There is a good labor pool and good private sector partners available.

There is OPIC investment protection available and there is a USA treaty of Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments, including debt equity programs when established, plus the USA Andean Preference Law that allows about 5,000 products into the USA duty free is being renegotiated. He noted that this agreement will be merged into the Western Hemisphere Trade Agreement which will allow even more goods to flow freely between Ecuador and North America. Also there is an active presence of the USA Embassy and Department of Commerce, plus good protection of intellectual property, including franchises and trademarks from abroad.

We also learned that the corporate income tax rate (which is only 25% of profits) can be reduced to 15% if annual profits are reinvested.

The predicted that Ecuador real estate prices were at an all time low in 2000 and that they are generally moving up though there are pockets of bargains still left. It believes that the rises will accelerate in the years to come.

And the foreign investors send to Ecuador almost USD $ 2 billions in 2006, as banks records.

Photos of Ecuador:

http://www.viajeros.com/modules.php?name=Galeria&op=porpais&codigo=EC&fuente=gcontent

Government

The Republic of Ecuador is a representative democracy. The Government is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. There is also an autonomous electoral agency called the "Tribunal Supremo Electoral". The country is separated into 21 provinces each of which is further divided into administrative cantones and parroquias.

In 1998, a constitutional assembly was convened by popular mandate to revise Ecuador's Constitution. The new constitution strengthens the executive branch by eliminating mid-term congressional elections and by restricting Congress' power to challenge and remove cabinet ministers. Also, soon after the new Constitution took effect Congress passed a code of ethics that seeks to strengthen Ecuador's political parties, which historically have been small and weak. The code of ethics imposes penalties on party members who vote contrary to their party on key votes.

Executive

The President of the Republic presides over the executive branch and represents the State. He is elected for a 4-year term by popular vote - one ballot for President and Vice-President. The President determines the number and functions of the ministries that comprise the executive branch and appoints the ministers of each bureau that he creates. He is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Legislative

Ecuador's unicamaral Congress passes laws, levies taxes, and approves International Treaties and an annual budget proposed by the executive branch. Congressmen are elected during multi-party elections and represent one of Ecuador's 21 provinces.

The President of the Congress, which had previously been elected by Congress as a whole, according to the new Constitution, will be chosen by the Party that received the highest percentage of the national vote. The President of Congress ranks after the President and Vice-President of the Republic, and essentially has the same powers and responsibilities as the Speaker of the House and Leader of the Senate majority in the United States.

Judicial

The judicial system is comprised of administrative courts, trial courts, appellate or Provincial Superior Courts and a Supreme Court. The supreme judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court, which has 30 Justices divided among ten chambers of three Justices each. Supreme Justices are elected for life terms.

Elections

The people of Ecuador directly elect the nation's President and Congressmen. Voting is a constitutional right for all Ecuadorian citizens and is compulsory for literate Ecuadorians between the ages of 18 and 65 years old residing in Ecuador. Voting is optional for the illiterate and for senior citizens over the age of 65. Also, active members of the military are not permitted to vote.

Elections are organized and supervised by the Tribunal Supremo Electoral. The Tribunal is an agency independent of the government and is vested with special enforcement powers. The Tribunal has the final word on all electoral matters. Observers of political parties and international organizations may be present during vote counting. In Presidential elections, if no candidate achieves a majority, the Constitution provides for a second round run-off between the two top candidates.

Economy

Ecuador's economy depends heavily on petroleum production and exports, along with exports of agricultural commodities and seafood. According to the Central Bank of Ecuador, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) reached nearly USD 20 billion in 1998. The state oil industry makes up 10% of GDP, generates 37% of total exports, and provides about 30% of government revenue. Agriculture contributes 12% of GDP. Ecuador's major agricultural and seafood exports are bananas, flowers, cocoa, coffee, shrimp, tuna and woods. In recent years industry has become increasingly important to Ecuador's economy, though it still lags behind commodities in importance.

In the 1990s, Ecuador committed itself to addressing remaining obstacles to trade and a functional free market economy. An unsustainable fiscal deficit and all the associated problems have made it difficult for the country to achieve any meaningful change to date, though it seems to be moving in the right direction: in 1995 Ecuador acceded to the World Trade Organization; in 1998 the government passed comprehensive legislation to protect intellectual property rights and canceled subsidies on electricity, cooking gas, and fuel; and in 2000, to help stabilize the economy, Ecuador adopted the US dollar as its national currency - a plan known as dollarization.

Check out the rest of the www.EcuadorExplorer.com business section for up-to-date information about Ecuador's economy and financial situation.