LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS3
Honduras
at about $1.3 billion annually and while
doubling it would be a challenge it is definitely achievable. He says the plan, which
should be ready to roll out in the second
half of this year, focuses on areas where
Honduras is already competitive, such as
agro-industry, intermediate manufacturing,
services, textiles and tourism. A sixth pillar,
construction, was included because it is
labor-intensive and there is a huge need
for additional housing and transportation
infrastructure.
Each focus area includes around 10
initiatives, requiring policy and legislative
changes to get them to work. Castillo says
40 initiatives were ready to implement and
another 20 to 25 would be finished in the
second quarter of this year.
First out of the gate will be tourism,
where the government hopes to attract a
minimum of $850 million in new investment and generate 255,000 new jobs by
the end of 2020. The initial focus will be
the resort island of Roatán, the jewel of
the country's tourism business, located 40
miles off the country's Caribbean coast.
"Tourism is where we have a great opportunity for investment. Tourism involves
hotels and infrastructure. It also stimulates
large investments by service providers to
create jobs," says Castillo.
The agro-industry sector will build on
Honduras' strength as a coffee producer,
and its potential to produce cacao for
chocolate and fresh produce for the US
and European markets. The agriculture
ministry also hopes to see sugar and palm
oil businesses moving toward the production of more value-added goods.
Textiles and intermediate manufacturing
through assembly plants, known as maquilas, would create a combined 295,000 jobs
and generate an additional $7 billion in
exports. Honduras is already in the top five
countries exporting T-shirts and other garments to the US, and is gaining importance
as a player in the auto-parts business. In
this line, the plans focuses on new investment for manufacturing cable harnesses
for vehicle wiring.
In services, Honduras hopes to become
a new leader in business process outsourc-
"THIS GOVERNMENT HAS
BEEN IMPROVING
MACROECONOMIC
NUMBERS, WHICH
EVERYONE, INCLUDING
THE IMF, RECOGNIZES"
Tackling problems
Guy de Pierrefeu, Honduras
Chamber of Commerce and Industry
STEADY PATH: Honduras has been winning
praise under President Hernández for
consistent economic growth
ing, with an initial push to attract call
centers. This builds on the large pool of
bilingual Hondurans. "We have the largest
bilingual population in Central America
and the government is investing in language training, with the state offering
scholarships for language proficiency," says
Castillo.
The construction focus area, which the
government added to McKinsey's original
proposal, responds to a huge need for
housing. Habitat for Humanity estimates
Honduras has a deficit of more than 1.1
million homes, with needs increasing by
30,000 units annually. Construction also
creates jobs, potentially more than the
other development areas included in the
Honduras 20/20 plan.
While the private sector shares the government's enthusiasm for Honduras 20/20,
business leaders warn that it may not bear
fruit unless it is accompanied by reforms
to streamline the state, improve efficiency
in critical sectors such as infrastructure and
energy, and to tackle two problems that
have long undermined the country's image
- crime and corruption.
The most visible problem is crime. Honduras has had one of the world's highest
homicide rates for some time. The World
Bank reported a rate of 67 homicides per
100,000 inhabitants in 2014, far better
than the 86.5 per 100,000 recorded in
2011, but still alarmingly high. The bank
estimates that crime costs the country
around $900 million a year, equivalent to
10% of GDP.
"Crime reduces competitiveness,
discourages entrepreneurship and investment, and slows the pace of job creation.
To put it simply: crime acts as a barrier to
growth," says a World Bank report, Honduras: Unlocking Economic Potential for
Greater Opportunities, released in March.
Giorgio Valentini, the bank's representative in Honduras, says there has been an
improvement but the government needs to
remain vigilant.
"I have seen a lot of improvements in
the past 18 months. The government is
committed to reducing crime and violence.
May/June 2016 - A Supplement to LatinFinance 3
Honduras_Outlook.indd 3
5/24/16 3:53 PM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras
Contents
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HSCover1
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HSCover2
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS1
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS2
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS3
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS4
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS5
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS6
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS7
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS8
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS9
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS10
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS11
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS12
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS13
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS14
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS15
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HS16
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HSCover3
LatinFinance - May/June 2016 - Honduras - HSCover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/0319QMR
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/1218JYM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/paraguay_2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8320YTM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8465TBM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/1476YBW
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7835THM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8655TGL
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/0614IJP
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/ecuador_20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/2713KNP
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/4982CFT
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7803HWE
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/3829THA
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7891MDD
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7714JCR
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/5619CMK
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/6939ASL
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/1364ASF
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/0453DAS
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/0453DAS_supp
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/1304APV
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7234GSD
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/1643XGS
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/9511JKM_supp
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/9511JKM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8745TNV
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/3629PBC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7466TBC_HSBC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7466TBC_supp
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7466TBC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/9463RVB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7345GPY
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/6398TVB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/4899EXM_supp
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/4899EXM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/3885CWS
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/45923GBC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/67449NBD
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/46733NLP
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/78456HCL
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/89456RBM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/22278HBL
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/2895YBM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/9033TBM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8934TNP
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/costarica20130304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/4672PNB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/9377BKL
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/drmtest
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/drmtest2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/5532LMC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/9044TBM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/4877RBC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/3008JHV
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/3728YBC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/9337KLM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/5674GNJ
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8330KMC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7663HCM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/2319ZMB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7110MKL
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8599FHG
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/4517HJK
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7813GHB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/1564FBM
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8884HGV
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7863SVB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/5233SFB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/5899SML
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/4311PMN
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/1366FBB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/9355AXC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8559EBN
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8244QXC
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/1779BBN
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/7144XVB
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/8971QGH
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/200805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/200804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/latinfinance/200803
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com