Uruguay

SERVICES

The spillway at the Salto Grande Dam
Courtesy Inter-American Development Bank

The Fray Bentos Bridge over the Río Uruguay
Courtesy Inter-American Development Bank

Figure 8. Transportation System, 1990

Artigas Boulevard, a highway leading to downtown Montevideo
Courtesy Inter-American Development Bank

Uruguay's service sector, comprising the major subsectors of banking, transportation, communications, and tourism, as well as the activities of the large central government, accounted for 42 percent of GDP in 1988. Transportation, storage, and communications together accounted for about 6 percent of GDP, while banking and commerce accounted for about 15 percent. Thus, half of the so-called service sector consisted of government activity.

On the one hand, the service sector was a strong point in the economy because of the well-educated work force concentrated in Montevideo. On the other hand, the instability among banks, the lack of a modernized telecommunications system, and shortcomings in the nation's transportation infrastructure held back the sector's development. In the second half of the 1980s, these issues took on increasing importance as the government began promoting the idea of Uruguay as an international service center for the Southern Cone (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay). The growing potential to export services and to integrate them across borders was considered a key element in the future development of Uruguay's outward-oriented economy.

Data as of December 1990