During the 2026 World Government Summit in Dubai, Paraguay presented its strategy to attract foreign investment. At the same time, Paraguay was mentioned as a potential logistics and aviation hub in South America. Among the key activities of the visit was a high-level meeting between the Paraguayan President, Santiago Peña, and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emirates airline, highlighting opportunities for cooperation in air connectivity and logistics development. The broader objective is to strengthen Paraguay’s position as a regional transport and distribution centre.
This initiative seeks to capitalise on Paraguay’s geographic location at the heart of the continent. The focus is on improving international connectivity to support cargo trade, tourism growth, and job creation. According to official sources and the National Tourism Secretariat (SENATUR), potential partnerships with global operators such as the Emirates Group could strengthen Paraguay’s integration into international markets.
Aviation hub in Mercosur and regional integration
Next to the possibilities of Paraguay as South America’s aviation hub, the summit also provided a platform to address Paraguay’s role within Mercosur. The country currently holds the pro tempore presidency of the regional bloc. In a forum titled “What Will Define the Next Economic Chapter of Latin America and the Caribbean?”, Paraguay highlighted Mercosur as a key mechanism for international engagement after more than three decades of institutional development.
Discussions emphasised that long-term regional competitiveness depends not only on natural resources. Officials also highlighted institutional stability and effective economic integration as decisive factors. In this context, they presented progress towards a potential free trade agreement between Mercosur and the United Arab Emirates as a step towards deeper interregional cooperation.
Memorandum of Understanding
During the summit, the Government of Paraguay signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates. The agreement focuses on exchanging experiences in government development and modernisation. Cooperation between the two countries will include the exchange of knowledge in key areas such as digital government, process simplification, efficient public management, and the application of technological solutions to optimise state services.
The Paraguayan Minister of Industry and Commerce, Javier Giménez, highlighted that the partnership will allow Paraguay to develop institutional capacities to deliver better services to citizens through new technological tools. “This agreement seeks to develop institutional capacities to provide better services. In this context of digitalisation and modernisation, with increasing use of tools oriented towards artificial intelligence, we aim to make citizens’ lives easier,” the minister stated.
Overall, Paraguay’s participation in the summit reflected an effort to raise its international profile. The country was positioned as an active participant in global trade and as a potential aviation hub, linking South America with markets in the Middle East and beyond.
