President Laurentino Cortizo sanctioned the law that creates the National Authority for the Attraction of Investments and Promotion of Exports of Panama, an institution whose objective is to attract foreign investment to the country.
The law establishes the legal framework for the Investment Attraction and Export Promotion Agency (ProPanama) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be elevated to an Authority, to give it greater sustainability and to execute, in a strategic and channeled manner, the different public-private efforts to attract investments and support the promotion of exports, informed the Presidency.
Road maintenance for $258 million, construction of an overpass for $58 million and the development of an energy park for $19 million, are some of the investments included in the 2020 National General Budget project.
Regarding the general amount of public investment included in the Fodes de las Alcaldías, the project discussed in the Assembly contemplates that by 2020 it would reach $1.243 million, an amount that would be 23% higher than that approved for 2019.
Through a cooperation agreement with the Mexican government, El Salvador will reforest nearly 50,000 hectares of land in different parts of the country.
The presidents of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, and of the United Mexican States, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, signed on June 20 in Tapachula, state of Chiapas, a cooperation agreement for the planting of 50,000 hectares in El Salvador, a project that will generate 20,000 jobs and is part of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for Central America, informed the presidency of El Salvador.
The decision of the Legislative Assembly to not endorse the bill that seeks to approve the contract between the government and Minera Panamá, shows the fragility of the contracts between the Panamanian state and companies.
The obstacles to the mining project date back several years, since the legal dispute began in 2009, when the Environmental Impact Center (CIAM) filed an appeal of unconstitutionality against the contract granting a 20-year concession to exploit and commercialize the gold, copper and other mineral resources of Cerro Petaquilla.
During 2018, Guatemala received $1.175 million in FDI, barely 0.5% more than the investment reported in 2017, mainly because of the political and legal uncertainty that ruled the country.
Figures from the Banco de Guatemala (Banguat) report that in the last five years, the country has gained $6,139 million in foreign direct investment (FDI), being 2014 the one that registered the highest year-on-year increase when reporting a 7% rate regarding 2013.
In 2018, nearly 13,000 new jobs were generated in Costa Rica because of investment in 48 new projects in the service, manufacturing and other productive sectors.
The Costa Rican Coalition of Development Initiatives (CINDE) reported that because of new companies arrived in the country together with investments made by companies already installed, 12,961 new jobs were generated in the sectors of services, digital technologies, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and light manufacturing.
Adverse court decisions against companies, social and political conflicts and fiscal issues are some of the factors that are impeding the development of productive projects in Central American countries.
One of the latest court decisions affecting companies with investments in the region was that of Minera Petaquilla, in Panama. The contract that this company had signed with the Panamanian State was declared unconstitutional last week.
Israeli government officials have announced that they plan to invest close to $2 billion in various businesses in the sectors of agriculture, medicine and education.
The investment will be made through the Guatemalan-Israel Fund for Investment and Development in Guatemala, and this seeks to make the Central American country the center of Israeli business in the region.
Two irrigation system construction projects are being prepared in different municipalities in the departments of Yoro, La Paz, Intibucá, Lempira, Atlántida, Cortés and Santa Bárbara.
The projects that will be executed are the Programa de Desarrollo Agrícola Bajo Riego (PDABR), and the Project of Competitiveness and Sustainable Development of the South Western Border Corridor (PRO-LENCA), whose investments will be $25.3 million and $27.8 million respectively..
Until 2023 renewable energy projects in Nicaragua may opt for the exemption of import duty on machinery and equipment, VAT, income tax and municipal taxes.
The National Assembly approved a reform proposed by the Ortega administration to extend the term of tax benefits for energy generation projects with renewable sources.The law established that the maximum period to opt for exemptions was January 2018, but now they will remain in place until January 2023.
The procedures required for making investments of over $500,000 outside of Managua can now be made through a single window that includes all entities.
The Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) has announced that the window is already operating in Managua, and will allow companies to make investments in the departments in the interior of the country, centralizing all of their paperwork in one place, without having to manage multiple processes in different institutions.
In the next five years the government expects to attract new private investment to add to the 1300 MW of renewable energy projects in the energy matrix.
Currently, 80% of power generation plants operating in the country are privately owned, and the Ortega administration has announced that it will continue to offer attractive terms to encourage the arrival of new private investment into the energy sector.The 2017-2030 plan envisages the incorporation of 1300 MW into the energy matrix,"... '(projects) that are open to all national and foreign investors who are participating.'"
Following the trend seen in recent months, the value of construction, additions and repairs carried out up to November 2016 fell by 5% compared to the same month in 2015.
The main reduction in value was recorded in San Miguelito, with a variation of -28%, followed by Arraiján, where the value fell by 21%.
Figures from the Office of the Comptroller General of Colombia indicate that the value of buildings, additions and repairs in the residential sector fell by 3.2%.In the case of non - residential projects, the drop was nearly 7%.
A portfolio of 105 infrastructure projects worth $1.6 billion, to be developed using public-private partnerships is being promoted among foreign companies.
During the Guatemala Investment Summit the government of Guatemala presented its portfolio of projects to local and foreign investors, in search of options to finance and develop them using public-private partnerships.