Nicolás Maduro proposed two additional binational economic zones during his weekly Monday program to promote economic development on the border with Colombia. Photo: Presidential Press.
Guacamaya, July 22, 2025. During his Con Maduro + TV program, President Nicolás Maduro proposed the creation of a second and third “Binational Economic Zone” between Colombia and Venezuela.
This area would have a special regulatory and fiscal framework to attract investment between the Colombian town of Arauca and the Venezuelan state of Apure.
“The idea is for this entire area to be a zone of peace, commercial integration, agro-industrial development, and import substitution,” Maduro explained.
He also proposed a third zone between the state of Amazonas and the Colombian municipalities of Guainía and Vichada to promote “the preservation of biodiversity, the fight against uncontrolled mining, the creation of more jobs and entrepreneurship, and the salvation of the planet.”
Last week, the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding for a first Binational Economic Zone between the department of Norte del Santander and the states of Táchira and Zulia. The signing follows years of efforts to promote development in the border region with the greatest commercial and human traffic, as the cities of Cúcuta and San Cristóbal are located there.
Bogotá has not yet commented on the proposals for a second and third zone. Regarding the first, the Colombian government indicated that “one of the objectives of this zone is to promote cooperation between the authorities of the two countries, with special emphasis on issues related to trade, tourism, culture, education, and health.”
According to senior officials from both governments, the plan for the binational zone is still in a very early stage, with a demonstrated intent but without details of what fiscal and regulatory framework it would have. By designating it differently and including two countries, it would not be the same as the Special Economic Zones already detailed in Venezuelan law.
Maduro Announces 6.65% Economic Growth in the Second Quarter
Maduro also stated that Venezuela has experienced 17 consecutive quarters of continuous growth, with a rate of 6.65% in the second quarter of this year.
The Central Bank of Venezuela has yet to release statistics for this latest period. For the first quarter, it published a surprisingly high growth rate of 9.32%. It should be noted that these are calculated based on the same quarter of the previous year. By 2024, Venezuela’s Gross Domestic Product would have grown by 8.54%.
Non-governmental organizations have differed on these calculations, estimating that growth would be lower and that there would even be quarters of contraction in the last four years—during those “17 quarters.”
