In Guatemala were published in the Diario de Centroamerica the sanctions of the laws for the Simplification of Administrative Requirements and Procedures and Free Zones, regulatory frameworks that aim to encourage investments and job creation.
In the June 1, 2021 edition of the Diario de Centroamerica, the texts of Decree 5-2021, which corresponds to the Law for the Simplification of Administrative Requirements and Procedures, and Decree 6-2021, which refers to the Free Trade Zones Law, were included. See complete publication.
In Honduras, a law reform was approved that simplifies the procedures that local and foreign companies must follow to take advantage of the Free Zone Law and extends for 15 more years the benefits that it grants to the companies of the regime.
From the National Congress of Honduras' statement:
The law was more than 44 years old and needed to be updated to make Honduras competitive
The second project was authorized in Guatemala to install a Special Public Economic Development Zone, which will require an initial investment of $16 million and will be located in Pajapita, department of San Marcos.
"Puerta del Istmo" is the name of the industrial park, which will be on a 160-hectare site and will house industrial and logistics companies.
In the Dominican Republic, approvals were granted for the development and operation of four new industrial parks, as well as the respective permits to install 12 new companies in free trade zones.
In the case of the new parks, these will be located in Boca Chica, Valverde, San Cristobal and Santiago, reported the National Council of Export Processing Zones (CNZFE).
Nayib Bukele returned to the Legislative Assembly the reform to the law of Free Zones that granted tax benefits for an additional period of 10 years to companies in the country to increase their investment in 100% with respect to the initially made.
On August 29, 2019, the Assembly informed that the Legislative Plenum endorsed the reform to the Law of Industrial and Commercial Free Zones, establishing that the users of these zones would have a term of 10 additional years (before there were five) to continue enjoying total exemption from taxes, which would be applicable once the period established for the regular enjoyment of this benefit expired.
Alejandro Giammattei, elected president of Guatemala, will propose to the authorities of the North American country that a special economic zone covering both sides of the border be developed.
Guatemala's president-elect is wasting no time, since four months after taking office, he is already making investment proposals to neighboring countries. In this case, he will do so in Mexico, where on September 20 he will meet with Lopez Obrador and will deliver a file on the issues he proposes to work on in the coming years.
The government informed that in San Miguelilto it is projected to invest $39 million in the implementation of a digital free trade zone, which is expected to install computer technology companies and centers of higher and technical studies.
Authorities of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (Mici) said that in a first stage, the private company will invest $10.6 million and then another $28.3 million will be disbursed.
Puerta del Istmo, Centro Logístico Quetzal and ZDEEP Piedras Negras, are the projects advancing in Guatemala in the process of becoming Zones of Special Public Economic Development.
In El Salvador, it is proposed that the law discussed in the Assembly, considers the reduction of minimum requirements for investments made in special economic zones, to compensate for the disadvantages of lack of productive activity in the area.
In July 2018, the Executive Branch presented to the Legislative Assembly the draft Law on Special Economic Zones (LZEE), which is being analyzed by the Economy Commission.
In Guatemala, the regulations governing the tariffs to be applied to users, administrators and economic zones have come into force as part of the new legislation on Special Public Economic Development Zones.
The tariffs that will be applied according to the categories established in the regulation, published in the Diario de Centroamérica on June 28th, were effective.
In the Dominican Republic, contracts were approved for the development and operation of four parks in export processing zones and 13 permits for the installation of companies.
The National Council of Export Processing Zones (CNZFE) reported last May 21 that it approved permits for two new parks of processing zones to be built in Boca Chica, and another in Nigua.
In Guatemala, the first project to install a Special Public Economic Development Zone was approved, which will require a $14 million investment and will be on the Highway to Puerto Quetzal, Escuintla.
The name of the industrial park, which will be on a 150-hectare site and will house industrial, commercial and service sector companies, is "Michatoya Pacífico" and will require an initial investment of $13.8 million.
In Guatemala, five private projects to build economic development zones are already in the process of being processed, only two months after the regulation defining the fiscal benefits to develop them came into force.
On February 4, the Law on Special Public Economic Development Zones (ZDEEP) came into effect, which provides for tax benefits consisting of a 10-year exemption from 100% income tax, as well as the temporary suspension of taxes associated with imports, among others.
The first of the five buildings that will form part of the La Lima Corporate Center was launched in Cartago, which will require a global investment of close to $98 million.
The project in charge of the real estate company Garnier & Garnier, is a complex of offices that is constructed in a plot of eight hectares in the industrial park La Lima, and contemplates the construction of up to five buildings of four floors each one, informed the Costa Rican Coalition of Initiatives of Development (Cinde).