Trade authorities in both countries have announced that before the end of the first half of this year the trade agreement that has been under negotiation since 2013 could be signed.
This is the third round of negotiations to finalize a Partial Scope and Economic Complementarity agreement between El Salvador and the Republic of Ecuador.
Among the products with the highest export interest from El Salvador are articles of clothing, plastics, candies, chocolates, juices and nectars, and sugar, among other things. Meanwhile, among Ecuador's interests are white goods, ceramics, cocoa preparations, wood, flowers, and bananas, among other things.
The Colombian firm Corona, owner of Standard Incesa announced that it will modernize the earthenware manufacturing plant operating in the municipality of San Miguel Petapa.
The company currently operates three plants in Central America, with an installed production capacity of over one million pieces per year, comprising sanitary wares, faucets, accessories and ceramics.
Tires, ceramics, auto parts and raw materials are part of the list of 2,800 products which will incur higher fees in order to enter the Ecuadorian market from March 11.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade in Ecuador:
The external landscape has changed expectations regarding our balance of payments and we are facing a new scenario which affects the commercial arena which is low oil prices, the appreciation of the US dollar, so it is necessary to take measures to regulate the general level of imports and balance our trade balance.
Noting high production costs, Incesa has announced the closure in Costa Rica of its sanitary ware manufacturing plant, and its installation in Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Incesa Standard, a subsidiary of the Colombian company Corona, will start closure of operations gradually over the first six months of the year. The company argues that in the production process costs for labor and energy are very high, preventing the continued operation of the plant in the country.
The Multilateral Guarantee Investment Agency has awarded the Colombian company Corona a guarantee of $11 million to build a plant to manufacture ceramics for bathrooms in the country.
From a statement issued by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA):
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and entity of the World Bank Group which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement mechanisms, today announced its support for the acquisition, expansion and modernization of a plant for bathroom ceramics in Managua (Nicaragua) belonging to Corona, a ceramics manufacturing company based in Colombia. The investment will increase the availability of sinks and toilets in the country, which is facing major sanitation deficiencies, above all in poor rural areas.
A group of 45 Colombian companies will visit Costa Rica and Guatemala to hold business meetings with entrepreneurs in these sectors.
Business meetings will be held on March 24th when the trade mission will be in San Jose, Costa Rica, and on March 25th it will move on to Guatemala City.
From a statement issued by the Promoter of Tourism, Investment and Exports from Colombia:
Colombian SMEs see an opportunity to position themselves in Central America, alongside the corporations from that country that have already landed in the region.
Examples are Sirius and Cosméticos Bachué, two companies out of the nearly 200 SMEs interested in finding a place for their products in Central America and the Caribbean.
"Alvaro Gomez, director of the trade office Proexport in Costa Rica, said the country needs to double its power generation levels over the next eight years. This opens up great opportunities for electrical companies, like Sirius, in a country which in 2012 exported goods and services worth $274.4 million," noted an article in Elcolombiano.com.
Petaquilla Gold, the largest gold mine in Panama, has announced a plant for the manufacture of tiles, bricks and slates based on clay residues from the metal extraction process.
Petaquilla Gold is venturing into the production of building materials to create a clay products factory, Petarcilla SA, which will use waste from the grinding and extraction process at the Molejón gold and silver mine.
This coming May 6, businessmen from Guatemala will participate in a round of negotiations in El Salvador.
Guatemalan mission executives will explore market opportunities in the areas of food, ceramics, books, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, among others.
The event, organized by the School of Foreign Trade of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (AGEXPORT), "will try to put ten Guatemalan entrepreneurs in contact with some 70 delegates from the country's [El Salvador] production sectors," according to an article reported in Prensa.com.
Interceramic, a leading Mexican manufacturer of tiles and flooring, is to open a store in Panama in July and another in Guatemala the following month.
The company, which distributes some 38 million square meters a year of flooring in Mexico and the United States, aims to put its products on sale throughout Central America.
Medium-term plans include a total of eight stores in Guatemala and three in Panama.