The initial idea, a free trade port in Manaus, came from Deputy Francisco Pereira da Silva and was subsequently formalized by Law No.
The new Decree-Law stipulated that the Manaus Free Trade Zone would have an area of 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) with an industrial centre as well as an agricultural center and that these would be given the economic means to allow for regional development in order to lift the Amazon out of the economic isolation that it had fallen into at that time.
61.244 of August 28, 1967 created the Manaus Free Trade Zone Superintendence, SUFRAMA, an autarchy with its own legal status and assets and having financial and administrative autonomy.
Tax incentives and the subsequent complementary legislation created comparative advantages in the region with respect to other parts of the country and as a result the Manaus Free Trade Zone attracted new investment to the area.
[3] These incentives constituted tax exemptions administered federally by SUFRAMA and SUDAM.