USER MANUAL
BaPIP User Manual: Table of contents 1. Introduction 1.1 What is the BaPIP? 1.2 Goals of the BaPIP 1.3 Who is this manual addressed to? 1.4 Advantages of visiting the BaPIP s investment opportunities 1.5 Submission requirements for projects 1.6 Confidentiality 2. Accessing the BaPIP 2.1 Access to the BaPIP website 2.2 Homepage 2.3 Searching for Investment Projects 2.4 User Registration 2.5 Executive Summary 2.6 Enquiries about investment projects 3. The Role of the Undersecretariat for Investment Development and Trade Promotion ANNEX I. Sample of a BaPIP executive summary 1
1. Introduction The Undersecretariat for Investment Development and Trade Promotion (the Undersecretariat ), under the Secretariat of International Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, created the Productive Investment Opportunities Database as a strategic instrument for promoting quality Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Argentina. 1.1. What is the BaPIP? The Productive Investment Opportunities Database (BaPIP, for its acronym in Spanish), is an online portfolio of investment projects. The database was designed to connect investors from around the world with the wide range of investment opportunities available in Argentina. Project stakeholders upload projects online using a standardized form designed to ensure that the project s key business plan variables are presented in the project summary. Project owners, private-sector intermediate entities or government organizations acting in the country and/or with technical skills related to the investment project (sponsoring institution) are eligible to submit projects to BaPIP. The BaPIP investment project database can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Potential investors can search for local investment opportunities best matched with their interests. BaPIP facilitates contact with project owners to ensure deals are closed and strategic partnerships are formed. In addition to BaPIP showcasing all the investment projects on the website, the projects are promoted by Argentine embassies and consulates abroad and the Undersecretariat s investor services area in Argentina and at investment missions organized in other countries. Since BaPIP s inception in 2011, in addition to initiatives undertaken by project stakeholders to upload their projects, the Undersecretariat has spearheaded an ongoing search for investment projects nationwide in coordination with national ministries, provincial and local governments and the business community. The Undersecretariat also provides project stakeholders with technical assistance to complete the form with the relevant variables to ensure the project is well received by the investment community once uploaded to the BaPIP. 1.2. Goals of the BaPIP The Undersecretariat considers foreign investment to be a key complement to the investments made by local companies. FDI can contribute to national economic development by generating higher added value in the following processes: production; job creation; training of human resources; provision of capital, technology and knowledge; establishment of production chains and/or positive impact on the balance of trade through an increase in exports or import substitution. However, in order to ensure the beneficial impact of FDI on the local economy, the quality of the investment flows received must be guaranteed. 2
Along this line, the BaPIP seeks to promote investment projects which may contribute to Argentina s economic development and stimulate the formation of strategic partnerships between local (public and private) organizations and foreign companies. 1.3. Who is this manual addressed to? This manual is addressed to anyone who is interested in finding investment opportunities in Argentina. 1.4. Advantages of visiting the BaPIP s investment opportunities Visiting the BaPIP periodically will help you stay abreast of the best investment opportunities in Argentina. If you identify a project of interest, you will be able to contact the project owners in order to form strategic partnerships and share in the potential benefits arising from the investment. The advantages of investing in a project through a strategic association with a local partner are manifold. Advantages include reducing the economic, commercial and technical risks, making the most from the local partner s inputs about the specific sector, the market, the legislation, the logistic aspects, the supply chain, their contact networks and the local practices. Additionally, ongoing contact with the BaPIP team will allow you to access all available investment opportunities and rely on the professional and personalized assistance provided by the Investor Services area from the initial stage of project evaluation to its start-up. The Undersecretariat s services are designed to facilitate the materialization and the success of your investment. 1.5. Submission requirements for projects All projects uploaded to BaPIP must meet the following criteria: Be located in Argentina; Represent a project that will increase or improve domestic production capacity; Represent a profitable opportunity; Require a minimum US$1 million investment; Be presented in a clear and concise manner; Be submitted by an existing entity/individual with a valid TIN in Argentina. 1.6. Confidentiality All registration data and information submitted by investment project owners will be kept CONFIDENTIAL and provided to interested investors only with the project owner s consent. All contact information submitted by potential investors or their representatives will handled with the same confidentiality and released to third parties upon their consent. 3
2. Accessing the BaPIP 2.1. Access to the BaPIP website There are two ways to access the BaPIP website, go to www.inversiones.gov.ar/en and click on the BaPIP option or enter the following address in your browser to access the database directly: bapip.inversiones.gov.ar/en 2.2. Homepage A list of projects in the form of a synoptic table, highlighting the most important information for each project, is located on the homepage. Project #101: Build an electrical power plant based on geothermal resources exploited in Domuyo, province of Neuquén. Sector RENEWABLE ENERGY Project total amount: US$ 10 millions Project stage Advanced development Location: Neuquen, Argentina Funding sought: US$ 10 millions Promoter: Provincial Public Organism If you are interested in learning more details about any of the investment projects in the database, simply select the title of the project and then enter your email address and password of your user account or sign up to open a new BaPIP user account. 2.3. Searching for Investment Projects The basic fields for searching the listing of investment projects are: Sector(s) involved Subsector Province Total investment amount Registered users may also conduct an advanced search to narrow the search results. Projects can be sorted by any following categories: key word, type of supporting institution, capital requirements, purpose of the investment, current stage of the project and project number. 2.4. User Registration To view the executive summaries of the investment projects uploaded to the BaPIP, you will need to open a user account, for which you will be required to fill out a registration form that is confidential and will only be disclosed to the investment project owner with your consent. 4
To register and create a BaPIP user account, click on the "REGISTER" button. If this is your first time, please register here to access the project s executive summary: REGISTER If you have already registered to view executive summaries, please enter here: E-mail Password forgot your password? LOGIN The registration form for investors or investor representatives requires you to provide the following contact information: First name Last name Address Telephone number Institution you belong to Email address (which will be used as username) Website 2.5. Executive Summary Once registered, you will be able to access more project details provided as an executive summary by selecting the title of the investment project shown in the synoptic table. The information contained in the executive summary includes the following information fields (see Annex III): Title of the investment project Brie f description of the business opportunity Brief description of the product/service Brief description of the target market(s) Brief description of the advantages of the company or cooperative to carry out the investment project 5
Brief description of the context of the investment opportunity Location of the project Capital requirements: total amount of the investment project; percentage of the investment contributed by the company or cooperative submitting the project; and minimum amount required from the investor Return period Purpose and destination of the investment Investment project's stage of development Brief description of the main stages of the project Type of incentives available Type of investor required Preferred investment mode Information about the company/cooperative submitting project: length of time in business; annual sales; percentage of annual sales derived from exports; and number of employees) 2.6. Enquiries about investment projects If you wish to learn more about a specific investment project, please send an email to bapip@mrecic.gov.ar, specifying the project number in the subject, or contact the appropriate Argentine representation abroad. Potential investors may request: (1) More information about a specific investment project; (2) The sponsoring institution s contact information. Enquiries will be received and answered by officials of the Undersecretariat, who will contact the potential investor in order to determine its genuine interest in the investment opportunity. For this purpose, the enquiry must be accompanied by information about the investor: name of the company or investment fund; sectors in which it specializes; website; contact details; and is the reason for the investor s interest in the investment project. If this request for information is not answered, the Undersecretariat may reserve the decision to respond to the enquiry. Based on this information, the Undersecretariat s officials will contact the sponsoring institution in order to gather the requested information or put the two parties in contact with one another. Due to confidentiality terms, the contact details of the sponsoring institutions, as well as any additional information requested, will be released only with the express consent of the institution. Apart from enquiries about specific projects uploaded to the BaPIP, enquiries about economic sectors or activities not included in the BaPIP s investment opportunities database may be sent via email to bapip@mrecic.gov.ar or made through the Argentine representations abroad. These enquiries will be answered by the Undersecretariat s officials. This will allow them to keep a record of the investment project demands to conduct focused surveys, and to keep the investor informed of the incorporation of new projects that may be of interest to them. 6
3. The Role of the Undersecretariat for Investment Development and Trade Promotion The general role played by the Undersecretariat consists in promoting and managing the BaPIP. Its specific duties include: Promoting the upload of productive investment projects nationwide, so as to reflect the diversity of business opportunities existing in different sectors and provinces. Surveying and identifying investment projects in sectors considered to be strategic. Answering enquiries from BaPIP users. Assessing the productive investment projects uploaded to ensure that they are correctly formulated. Keeping the project database up-to-date and ensuring that the investment opportunities promoted are current. Striving to incorporate continuous Improvements to the BaPIP tool. Disseminating BaPIP investment projects all over the world. For further information, please contact the Undersecretariat via email at bapip@mrecic.gov.ar. 7
ANNEX SAMPLE OF A BAPIP EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INVESTMENT PROJECT #110 Construction of a 100MW wind farm in the south of the province of Buenos Aires Brief description of the business opportunity: A wind farm s profitability is tied to three elements: the on-site wind resource assessed by a measurement tower that logs wind speed data at frequent intervals for one year, in addition to other measurement studies conducted by the Renewable Energies Institute; the quality of the builder; and the sale of production to the domestic grid, with a 12-year commitment, that is, the farm amortization period. Profitability during the second period is also guaranteed, taking into consideration amortization. Brief description of the product/service: This project aims to generate 388GWh of renewable energy to complement conventional energy generation, preserving the reserves of non-renewable fuels. Brief description of the target market(s) of the product/service: The power generated by the wind farm will be allocated exclusively to the domestic power grid. Argentina has ample areas suitable for wind power development, which have not yet been used for that purposes. Experts project development over upcoming years to reach an estimated 2,000 MW a year. The main factors accounting for the growth in this market are increased commodity prices of fossil fuels, the falling level of energy reserves, as well as the tendency towards cleaner energies worldwide. Brief description of the advantages of the company or cooperative to carry out the investment project: The company has experience in managing projects of this kind. In Belgium, the company managed the construction of three wind farms and carried out all the relevant feasibility, economic and environmental impact studies. Such facilities have a total nameplate capacity of 80 MW, 60 MW of which are operative, using wind turbines of 2-2.5 MW. Brief description of the context of the investment opportunity: Within the framework of the Kyoto protocols, the company s mission is to generate clean energy in order to contribute to improved sustainable development in terms of energy, in particular in Argentina, where there is ample opportunity for renewable energy development. Regardless of the economic reasons and the obligations outlined in the Kyoto protocols, wind blowing over Argentina s vast plains makes it possible to achieve a coefficient of use in excess of 41%, considerably high if one considers that there are countries with lower coefficients (27-29%) that are developing wind power projects with success. 8
City/Area: Corti, Buenos Aires, Argentina Total amount of the Investment Project: US$ 178,000,000.00 Percentage of the investment contributed by the company or cooperative submitting the project: 10% - 25% Minimum amount required from investor: US$ 142,400,000.00 Return period: 5-10 years Purpose of the Investment: New productive unit Destination of the Investment: Machinery and Equipment Investment Project's stage of development: Advanced development - - Brief description of the main stages of the project: Year Amount Destination 1 2 3 4 Resto Total 18.000.000,00 80.000.000,00 80.000.000,00 178.000.000,00 Roads to access the power evacuation network Purchase, transportation, installation and mounting of 25 wind turbines Purchase, transportation, installation and mounting of 25 wind turbines Type of public incentives available for the Investment Project: Financial facilities Type of investor required: Irrelevant Preferred investment mode: Equity Information about the Company/Cooperative submitting the Investment Project: Length of time in business: < 5 years Annual sales of the Company/Cooperative (in US$ millions): 10-50 Percentage of annual sales derived from exports: 0% Number of employees: < 50 If you are interested in this project, send an email to bapip@mrecic.gov.ar 9
If you have any question about BaPIP or about uploading a project, do not hesitate to contact us http://bapip.inversiones.gov.ar/en bapip@mrecic.gov.ar