After Guatemala approved the Law for the Simplification of Procedures and the creation of the Interinstitutional Commission to Contribute to the Economic Reactivation of the Construction Sector, the business sector believes that this news is encouraging.
At the beginning of May, Guatemalan authorities approved the Law for the Simplification of Administrative Requirements and Procedures. This regulatory framework aims to promote the digitalization of administrative procedures, allowing people to use the technology available to them to carry out procedures and interact with the government.
The slowness of local authorities to grant permits to wood exporters prevents them from taking advantage of the available resources in the country.
2020 was a complicated year for the sector, as Nicaraguan exports were considerably reduced due to the pandemic. In addition to this phenomenon, exporters face complications when it comes to obtaining the corresponding permits, a situation that prevents them from doing business in emergency scenarios.
High social charges, excessive regulations for businesses and the high price of labor are factors that prevent Costa Rica's economy from reaching its growth potential.
In Costa Rica, establishing a personally owned company without employees is up to three times more expensive than what it can cost in a country that belongs to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The lack of incentives, the disorder to apply the legislation and the complexity of producing in areas that are surrounded by traditional crops, are some of the factors that hinder the development of organic agriculture in Costa Rica.
In the last decade, the area planted to organic agriculture has fallen. Data from the program of Accreditation and Registration in Agriculture (ARAO) specify that in 2010 the area amounted to 11,115 hectares and in 2019 fell to 8,832 hectares, equivalent to a decrease of 21%.
In Guatemala, the Ministry of Health will delay for six months, the entry into force of the increase in the cost of procedures such as the issuance of licenses and health records, necessary to market food and medicines.
On December 1, 2020, by means of Governmental Agreement 179-2020, the new fees for the services of procedures of licenses, registrations and other processes for medicines, laboratories, pharmaceuticals, food products and others came into effect.
The business sector in Guatemala is anticipating an increase in the prices of food and medicines, due to the government's decision to raise the cost of procedures such as the issuance of licenses and health registrations, required to market these products.
By means of Government Agreement 179-2020, which entered into force on December 1, 2020, new fees were imposed for the services of procedures for licenses, registrations and other processes for medicines, laboratories, pharmaceuticals, food products and others.
After five months of implementing measures to mitigate the covid-19 outbreak, the business sector in Panama is calling for the removal of unreasonable, technical and unconstitutional restrictions that are working against the success of economic and social recovery.
Because alcohol gel not meeting minimum requirements is marketed in Nicaragua, local laboratories are asking the government to expedite the process of granting permits for the manufacture and registration of the product.
The health crisis generated by the spread of covid-19 has caused alcohol gels that do not meet the requirements established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be sold on the local market.
Although in 2019 the arrival of tourists to Costa Rica increased 4% compared to 2018, businessmen of the sector continue to face complex procedures to open a new business and the high costs of basic services.
Data from the Directorate General of Immigration and Foreigners, said that between 2018 and 2019 the number of foreign visitors who came to the country grew by 122 thousand, from 3.01 million to 3.14 million tourists.
Raising the quality of education, eliminating excessive paperwork and generating opportunities, not threats, for people to formalize their economic activities are the main demands of the Costa Rican business sector in the run-up to 2020.
Generating more employment and strengthening the business sector while the actions of the Executive, Legislative Assembly and the Judiciary are being implemented are some of the projects outlined for the first quarter of the year, according to the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP).
Two months after the end of the rainy season, farmers in Costa Rica lament that the government has yet to execute the works needed to mitigate the effects of the droughts scheduled for next summer.
In the opinion of the producers, among the works that the government should have promoted during the current winter was the construction of water reservoirs and wells, as well as the cultivation of fodder to store animal feed, since there is the threat of a possible new drought.
The Salvadoran government announced that it will accelerate the delivery of permits for several construction projects pending from previous administrations, valued at more than $1.4 billion.
Directors of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), who are part of the new administration of President Nayib Bukele, specified that the aim is to deliver as soon as possible the files that were retained by old authorities and that the mission is to streamline the procedures but not to make them flexible.
Although in Costa Rica the procedures for approving new pesticides that enter the market should take a few weeks, there are processes that have not been processed for more than ten years, which prevents increasing and improving the supply of products.
The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, accumulates dozens of files that are still pending approval, including some that have been waiting for more than a decade.
As one of the measures that the Costa Rican government plans to implement is that it will no longer be necessary to have all the requirements to open a business certified, and only an affidavit will be necessary.
The government will implement a regulatory moratorium that will prevent the creation of new procedures, requirements or procedures to obtain permits, licenses or authorizations, which will apply until May 2022, according to an official source. This would be one of the guidelines that are part of the government's actions to lead the country to economic recovery.
Since June 3, in Guatemala, the purchase and sale of properties will require a single process to obtain certification of property and cadastral appraisals.
Before this change was implemented, it was necessary to compile separately the certifications of the value at which the real estate was registered in the Municipality, the fiscal value of Dirección de Catastro y Avalúo de Bienes Inmuebles (DICABI) or the value declared in the deed of Purchase-Sale or what was agreed upon by buyer and seller.
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