Government of Honduras launches a campaign to attract new investments

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Government of Honduras launched this Thursday a campaign to attract new domestic and foreign investments for the Central American country, reviewing its competitive advantages and strategic location.

The executive secretary of the National Investment Council (CNI) of Honduras, Jacqueline Foglia, presented a guide that provides potential investors with the procedures and mechanisms they need to establish or expand their investment in the country.

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The publication, Investor’s Guide 2020-2021, is an “instrument that informs potential and existing investors of the steps to follow for investment according to the sector”, said Foglia in statements to Efe.

The thematic axes of the guide, supported by the Secretariat of Economic Development, are the start of operation of a company, public-private partnership, exports and imports, special permits, and legal aspects and incentives, among others, she added.

“We are happy because now (the guide) is a much more digital and updated instrument, we are working hard on the visual and interactive part”, emphasized the official.

STRATEGIC LOCATION

In both Spanish and English, the guide offers general data on the tax system, incentives, labor laws, construction and permits, promotion and protection of private investments, and information on the steps to establish a business in the country, according to CNI.

“We want all the information that investors require, especially those who are about to make the initial decision to invest, to have to fill out their financial model, with the different data they need to be able to measure potential demand, size of factory, plant, engines or machines needed,” she explained.

She affirmed that Honduras offers investors a strategic location since the country is “very close to potential markets of great demand, such as the United States, Mexico, and Canada, that block is very demanding and full of consumers”.

The tropical climate allows the country to grow “exotic fruits, such as nance” and offers skilled labor in several areas, tax benefits, and important trade agreements.

IMPROVING THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE

“Improving the investment climate in the country is an objective that has been part of our agenda as a government,” said the Undersecretary of Economic Development of Honduras, David Alvarado.

He pointed out that the Secretariat of Economic Development has promoted administrative simplification initiatives, including the Investor’s Guide, which allows business people or entrepreneurs to learn about the formalities and procedures required to start a business.

For his part, the manager of Economic Policy of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP), Santiago Herrera, said that private enterprise and the National Investment Council share “common goals” such as economic reactivation, employment generation, support, and training for small, medium and large companies.

For Herrera, this new investor’s guide is “a powerful tool to guide and advise existing and future investors in the best way”.

Honduras captured US$311.4 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter of this year, 7% less than the US$335 million received during the same reference period in 2020, according to official figures.

According to the Central Bank of Honduras, the most attractive sectors for foreign investors are manufacturing, services, commerce, restaurants, hotels, electricity, gas and water, the industry of goods for transformation, and agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing.