Paraguay secured more than $1 billion in investments after a business mission to the United States, but the announcements cover projects at different stages and in different sectors. The largest include $700 million for an events center on Asunción’s Costanera Norte and $200 million for the forestry sector.
Industry Minister Marco Riquelme presented the results after President Santiago Peña met with representatives of the public and private sectors who took part in the mission. Riquelme said more than 30 projects were already being prepared and structured before the trip and were presented to banks, funds and international investors in search of financing.
Peña said tree planting for the forestry project, which involves J.P. Morgan and Grupo Robinson, is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027. The president also said construction of the events center could begin in early 2027. Riquelme said the Costanera Norte initiative is still awaiting municipal and environmental approvals.
Other initiatives announced include interest from California-based fund Plug and Play in operating in Paraguay, a program by the organization Apolitical to train more than 100,000 public employees in artificial intelligence, and a memorandum of understanding between state-owned Petróleos Paraguayos (Petropar), Paraguay’s state-owned fuel company, and Scorpio to explore for hydrocarbons. The information released did not specify amounts for these initiatives.
The announced investment comes after foreign direct investment (FDI) reached a record in 2025. Paraguay received $1.18 billion that year, up 7.6% from 2024, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), a United Nations regional commission. Separately, Peña said he expects the country to set another record in 2026; he did not link that expectation to the mission to the United States.
During the trip, Peña said he took part in about 50 meetings and gatherings with investors. He also cited legal certainty as a demand and argued for coordinated work by the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Paul Sarubbi, president of the Paraguayan Chamber of Road Construction Companies, said the country still has a major infrastructure gap and cited concessions, public-private partnerships and private investment as ways to make projects possible.