In Guatemala investment is between 16% and 17% of gross domestic product, in Southeast Asia, the figure is between 25% and 35%.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports that a group of experts met last week in this country to discuss how to foster Guatemala’s growth. The analysis of the issue carried out by a member of The Growth Dialogue think tank can be extrapolated to most Central American countries.
New economic approaches give prime importance to the issue of governance and transparency as prerequisites for development.
An article in Capital.com.pa reports on the damage caused by corruption to the possibilities of development for societies, focusing on the possible routes that Panama can take to combat the problem. But beyond that, all of the concepts of the writer can extrapolated to the unfortunate reality that, in terms of corruption, is seen in all Central American countries.
The outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas 2013 - A Perspective on Latin America and the Caribbean
Executive Summary:
Macroeconomic Context
This section provides an analysis of the financial and macroeconomic conditions that make up the international context which determines in part the performance of regional economies.
The uncertainty regarding the recovery of growth in advanced economies and more specifically the debt crisis in the euro zone are affecting the growth prospects of the world economy. The uncertain scenario of the European Monetary Union, coupled with the sharp rise in interest rates on sovereign bonds of the countries hardest hit by the crisis, has affected even the most robust economies in the EU. In turn, the United States is facing an exceptionally slow recovery from the crisis, with persistently high unemployment and growing inequality. Emerging countries which have previously had booming growth rates, such as Brazil, China and India, are also seeing a slowdown in growth. The repercussions in Latin America and the Caribbean have been a significant slowdown of the growth rate of GDP in 2011 and projections for 2012, compared with the upturn of 2010.
There are seven deadly sins being committed in agricultural production in Latin America, preventing possible productivity and perpetuating poverty and underdevelopment.
In his article in Laprensa.com.ni, Juan Vega Gonzales summarizes the concepts developed by Polan Lacki, a
Brazilian specialist with 50 years experience in rural development, regarding the reasons for Latin America’s agricultural underdevelopment.
Projections have been released by the Ministry of Planning on cities, water, energy, population, employment, production, economic development priorities, education, land use, safety, infrastructure and logistics.
With the title "Guatemala 2032, A Vision for the new Katun", the Ministry of Planning and Programming of the Presidency (Segeplan) has presented a document that attempts to visualise Guatemala over 20 years, and the stages within this transition.
Construction of the silver mine, el Escobal, by Tahoe Resources has brought banks, restaurants, a hotel and other businesses providing goods and services to the town of San Rafael Las Flores, Guatemala.
According to an article in Elperiodico.com.gt, "El Escobal, located in San Rafael Las Flores, Santa Rosa, is considered one of the largest silver deposits in Central America, with reserves of more than 300 million ounces, as well as containing lead, zinc and gold. The company Minera San Rafael, a subsidiary of Tahoe Resources, will operate the project for 4 years and expects to initiate the exploitation work in mid-2014. "
Out of all the countries on the isthmus, only Panama’s Human Development Index follows the upward trend set by Latin America and the Caribbean.
Since the 1990 publication of the Human Development Index (HDI), the number has shown an upward trend for the vast majority of nations. This overall positive trend has been exceeded by some countries, such as South Korea and China, while others, such as Zimbabwe and Lesotho, have actually moved in a negative direction.
According to the UN Development Program (UNDP) index, within Central America Panama comes first at no. 58 followed by Costa Rica (69), El Salvador (105), Honduras (121), Nicaragua (129) and Guatemala at no. 131.
While Panama's ranking has moved up one spot since the last time the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) was published, Costa Rica and Honduras have slipped back a place.
In the past four decades great advances have not been made in the problems of water distribution, solid waste management, land use and transport.
Nine municipal administrations have presented action plans for solving the problems facing Guatemala City, but most have ended up as just that, plans.
"The current municipal authorities, in conjunction with the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), produced a study in 2008 called "Perspectives of the Urban Environment: Geo Guatemala City" in which a diagnosis of the city’s problems was given and a solution offered for each of them. It stressed that with population growth, the horizontal extension of urbanisation, the socioeconomic inequality in the greater metropolitan area, there would also be an increase in territorial imbalances.
Broadband telecommunications technologies have the potential to stimulate rapid economic growth and facilitate job creation.
The report, "Broadband: a platform for progress", published by the United Nations, urges countries to implement national plans for broadband, so as not to risk losing the benefits of global high-speed digital communication .
The report shows, by way of example, that every 10 percent increase in broadband penetration in China could contribute to an increase of 2.5 percent extra growth in the gross domestic product (GDP). Other data cited in the report indicates that for countries of low and middle incomes, a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration could mean up to a 1.4 percent point increase in economic growth.
Two common issues facing modern agriculture: efficient food production and environmentally sustainable practises.
Agricultural Productivity plays a decisive role in the conservation of the environment as well as in economic and social development. As such, Central America's agricultural entrepreneurs and industries must keep themselves up-to-date with the latest innovations in maximizing harvests in the smallest surface area (ecological footprint) while optimizing water usage (virtual water and water footprint). This should be done alongside the region's Ministries of Agriculture and research organizations.
Representatives from South Korean companies are touring Panama, evaluating different regional investment options.
Several high profiles companies are represented in the trade mission: Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motors Company, LS-Nikko Copper, Korean Air, Hanjin Shipping, Korea Federation of Textile Industries and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, among others.
A recipe that mixes statistical data, reasoned argumentation and good intentions, ends in an absurd list of more or less pacific countries.
The industry of producing Indexes and Rankings, which at times provides useful information for business decision making, turns out real absurdities more often than not.
The Global Peace Index (GPI), developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit and the Institute for Economics and Peace, is a good example of this. It is based on the questionable premise that peace has a monetary value, as an economy can reach its maximum productive capacity under states of peace. It mixes, relates and weights statistical data provided by various international agencies to produce a figure that measures – according to its authors – how peaceful is each of these nations when compared to others. Its creators allege the number must be used to conduct strategic business analysis (“Using the Global Peace Index for Strategic Business Analysis”).
First part of the study "Contribution of the Mining Industry to Guatemala's Development 2009', by CIEN.
This study was developed by Sigfrido Lée and María Isabel Bonilla de Anzueto, researchers at CIEN (Center for Economic Investigations). It is the first of a series of studies analyzing the benefits and costs of the mining industry in Guatemala.
The first and current edition provides a description of the current state of the Mining Industry in Guatemala. It attempts to present facts and incite national discussion, in order to make mining an integral part of the country's development. It never attempts to suggest that a balance between economic development, society and environment has been reached, but, in order to have a reasonable social dialogue, the topic must be demystified, and tackled objectively.