The Honduran Private Enterprise Council sees an opportunity to expand export markets in the agreement.
COHEP Vice President, Oscar Galeano, said in statements to La Trubuna that "Cuba has characteristics somewhat different from ours, but there is always the chance to explore them and determine the potential degree of consumer purchasing power and competitive advantages."
The Honduran Council of Private Enterprise suspended the protest against the minimum wage increase pending a Supreme Court resolution.
The COHEP decided to wait for a Supreme Court resolution in response to its appeal for an intervention to protect hundreds of businesses. Therefore, “A Day Without Business” will not be held on February 12th, as was expected, and instead it will be postponed until after the court´s decision.
Business owners have already filed 72 legal suits against the executive decree that increased the minimum wage.
Latribuna.hn reports: "Yesterday there 72 suits in total calling for the suspension of the of the Executive Decree which increased the minimum wage to 5,500 lempiras for urban areas and 4.55 for rural areas, but up to now none of them have been taken up by the Constitutional Branch of the Supreme Court."
The Private Sector Council of Honduras is recommending to its members that they challenge the executive decree increasing the minimum wage in the Supreme Court.
According to proceso.hn "they also asked President Manuel Zelaya to amend his decision to increase minimum wages to 5,500 lempiras.
The business owners warned that this decision will affect 90% of the companies in Honduras, at which more than 70% of the workers in Honduras are employed."
Businessmen point to negative effects due to the measure, such as the loss of competitiveness because of cheaper labor in neighboring countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
According to elsalvador.com, "workers who earn 3,400 lempiras (some $170) will now earn 5,500 lempiras (some $300).
Amilcar Bulnes, president of the Honduran Private Businesses Council, lamented that the Honduran Government has raised wages to the same level as Costa Rica, which has a higher income than the rest of countries in Central America, except for Panama.
The economic crisis will cause the loss of 50,000 jobs in 2008 and the situation could be worse next year.
"Exports have been decreasing for textiles as well as for shrimps, tilapia, and the construction industry is starting to contract," added Evelyn Bautista, an economist for the Honduran Council of Private Enterprises (COHEP).
In addition, the United States is the source of family remittances which in 2007 totaled $2.5 billion; that is the equivalent of 21% of the country's GDP.
Local businessmen have started to line up hoping to get credit from the banks.
Several of them have started to process credit to finance the thirteenth month of pay and unlike last year, their request for resources are in process of being answered.
The president of the Honduran Council of Private Companies (Cohep), Amilcar Bulnes, commented that banks have less resources for loans to finance the production, construction and purchase of raw materials compared to last year.
Representatives of the Honduran Council of Private Companies will hold a meeting with the government to define the price adjustment for the basic food basket.
The Cohep presented a list of products for which prices will be lowered, however, the Minister of Industry and Trade, Fredys Cerrato, affirmed that the real prices will be revealed after the meeting.
The Honduran Private Sector Council is not ready to accept the proposal for an immediate minimum wage increase for workers of $291 (5500 Lempiras).
The tripartite commission including worker's union leaders, businessmen and the Secretary of Labor will begin, in the next few days, the process of negotiating the new adjustment for minimum wage that will come into effect starting January 1, 2009.
Twelve of the most important agroindustrial companies in the country have committed to a price freeze on their products.
The measure will apply for 30 days from October 24, it was reported by authorities from the Honduran Council of Private Companies, Cohep.
"Private companies in Honduras, in light of the emergency cause by the recent tropical storm that has affected the country, have joined up in solidarity with the general population and have announced that the product brand mentioned herein will have undergo a price freeze," according to an official press release.
Private companies in Honduras rejected the decision of President Manuel Zelaya to join ALBA, saying that it is a threat to free trade.
"The private sector manifests its discord with this unilateral initiative by the Executive Power, which, not knowing our history, traditions and culture, is placing the country in an alliance that is politically, militarily and ideologically damaging to the future of the Honduran people and free trade," said a release from the Honduran Private Sector Council (COHEP).
The main market for Hondura maquilas is the US, however, because of its strength of the sector the objective now is to venture immediately into Europe.
This is the proposal presented by a mission from the Honduran Maquila Industry (IHM) to their peers in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and El Salvador at a recent meeting held in El Salvador.
The Honduras Board of Private Enterprise has 150,000 dollars available for lending at an annual rate of 4.5 percent.
The funds come from the Government of Taiwan. They are part of a program that began in 2003 and which, up to June 30, 2008 has provided small business loans totalling 1,110,625 dollars.
"If credit requests increase, the funds could increase," said Israel Castañeda, an official with the private enterprise board.
The President of the Honduras Board of Private Enterprise, Amilcar Bulnes, says it's better to maintain and develop the free trade agreement with the United States than to start a new process with the Bolivian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), whose dominant member is Venezuela.
He said the board's position is that the government cannot sign a new trade agreement if it's not as good as or better than the one Honduras already belongs to.