Transcript Honduras Central America

Central America
ANABIR
National Association of Real
Estate Agencies
Let’s Start with
Central America in General:
• The Central American
Countries are:
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Belize
Guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Panama
Guatemala
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Panama
HONDURAS
Honduras indicators…
Honduras is just 2 hrs away
from the USA.
Facts & Figures
LANGUAGE
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Spanish is our main language. But, English
is widely used as second language.
GOVERNMENT SYSTEM
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Democracy: Elections every 4 years
3 Branches: Legislative, Executive, Judicial
5 Political Parties, with 2 stronger parties.
18 Departments each led by a Presidentappointed Governor.
How does Honduras compares
to the rest of Central America…
This table shows the Real GNP
comparison for 2002
Infrastructure
• In 1998, Honduras was hit and devastated
by Hurricane Mitch, this has had an affect
on the infrastructure of our country.
• We are in the process of reconstruction,
and many things are already back in
place, with the help of kind nations from
around the world.
Airports
• Four international airports and seven international
airlines carry a steady flow of travelers to and from
Honduras.
• The country's major airports are Tegucigalpa's Toncontin
International, San Pedro Sula's Ramon Villeda Morales,
La Ceiba's El Goloson and Roatan's Juan Manuel
Galvez.
• Honduras is a two-hour flight from the southern U.S.
cities of Miami, Houston and New Orleans. Direct flights
to other Central American countries are also available.
• Smaller landing strips enable air travel to other sites,
including Guanaja and Utila, Copan and La Mosquitia.
• Four Honduran airlines serve these domestic routes. For
air freight services, six airlines operate out of both
Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula
Seaports
• The National Port Authority operates four ports on the
Caribbean coast (Puerto Cortes, Tela, La Ceiba and
Puerto Castilla in Trujillo) and one on the Pacific (San
Lorenzo).
• Puerto Cortes is the largest port in Central America,
providing 24-hour service, modern loading and
warehouse facilities and 4,000 feet of dock to
accommodate ten 10,000 GRT vessels at once. The port
is just 35 kilometers north of San Pedro Sula.
• For Pacific access, the port of San Lorenzo offers a 28foot channel depth, 974 feet of dock space and three
warehouses.
Highways & Roads
• For road travel, there are 2,600 kilometers
of paved highway and 11,464 kilometers of
gravel road.
• Numerous bus lines provide reliable
service to cities throughout the country
and world-recognized car rental agencies
have offices in all major cities
Telecommunications
• Honduras offers a modern
communications infrastructure that
includes international direct dial service,
direct worldwide access to AT&T, Sprint
and MCI, Motorola cellular calling, Internet
service providers and access to local
teleports.
Energy
• Publicly-run hydroelectric facilities provide 65%
of the country's electric energy. The remaining
35% percent is supplied by public thermoelectric
plants.
• A new Energy Law, however, encourages private
investors to build electric plants and channel
their energy into the national network. Since this
law was instated less than three years ago, the
private sector has invested US$180 million into
two new thermoelectric facilities, generating an
additional 120 megawatts for national use.
Productive Sector
Mining
• The newly approved Mining Law opens
the door for the rational use of the
country's vast mineral resources. These
include silver, lead and zinc, as well as
smaller deposits of gold, antimony, iron,
copper and coal, which are currently
untapped.
Productive Sector
Agrobusiness
• Thanks to its wide variety of climates, topographies and
soils, which are perfect for numerous kinds of crops,
Honduras offers excellent potential for agroindustrial
investment. Seasonal fruits and vegetables, both fresh
and processed, have been highly successful on
international markets.
• Honduras is best known as a producer of bananas,
coffee, pineapple and melon. However, other fruits and
vegetables are quickly gaining ground, such as mango,
watermelon, papaya and Asian vegetables. These are
cultivated throughout the country.
Productive Sector
Forestry
• Seventy percent of Honduran territory is covered in
forest. Of all the countries in Central America, Honduran
possesses the greatest potential for becoming a major
contributor to the world market for both wood and nonwood forest products
• Although Honduras has long enjoyed world renown for
its mahogany, the country's forests offer more than 20
different kinds of wood that can be used for fine furniture
and other products. These include rosewood, cedrillo,
and tropical walnut. High quality pine is also exported to
the United States as finished furniture, components,
broomsticks and other products.
Productive Sector
Light Assembly
• More than 250 companies have set
up operations in Honduras in the last
10 years. They have achieved
excellent levels of efficiency and
today the manufacturingindustry has
expanded across the country.
• On the list of apparel suppliers to the
United States, Honduras ranks 1st in
the Caribbean, 1st among Central
American countries and 2nd in the
world.
• Foreign investments are secure in Honduras.
• New legislation promotes investment.
• Special incentives available for export
companies.
• Permanent tax holiday.
• Ample availability of highly productive labor.
• Competitive labor rates (Min. Wage: $ 0.98/hr
including benefits).
• Competitive property rental rates ($3.50 - $5.50
sq. ft./year for building space).
• Qualified bilingual professionals available.
• Best port facilities in Central America.
• Proximity to the U.S.A. speeds production
turnover rate (48 hours by ship to gulf ports, 2
hours by air).
PRIVATE INDUSTRIAL PARKS
• There are 24 private industrial
parks in operation or under
construction in Honduras.
FACILITIES on the
Industrial Parks
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Water, power and communications
Security, waste collection and cleaning services
Legal services
In-house customs
Employment agency
Health clinic
Cafeterias
Bank FREE TRADE ZONE (FTZ) The whole
country has been designated as a Free Trade
Zone (FTZ
OPERATIONS WITHIN AN FTZ AREA
• Companies are permitted to construct buildings
anywhere within the country, as long as the
building is totally fenced, and has 24-hour
security. To obtain a Free Zone Status (permit)
you pay an annual fee to the Honduran
government through the Ministry of Industry and
Trade and the Executive Direction of Income
(DEI).
• Most foreign companies are located in Export
Processing Zones. These include Fortune 500
companies. The majority are apparel, sporting
goods manufacturers and electronic assembly
operations.
Manufacturing facilities located within these
sites enjoy the following benefits:
• Unrestricted currency conversion
• Duty free import of all production machinery,Êother
equipment, fixtures, spare parts, raw materials and
supplies.
• Import and export shipments cleared in less than one
day with minimal documentation.
• 100% foreign ownership permitted.
• No government income, sales or corporate taxes or fees.
• Unrestricted repatriation of profits and capital at any
time.
• Many Honduran products enter the United States duty
free under the U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative.
Productive Sector
Tourism
• Today Honduras is the fastest-growing tourist
destination in the region. This is no surprise, with
its diverse array of natural and cultural sites.
Honduras offers beautiful Caribbean beaches,
paradisiacal islands surrounded by the world's
second largest coral barrier reef, cloud forests,
numerous biological reserves waiting to be
explored, indigenous cultures, Mayan
archaeology, colonial cities and urban centers.
Tourism
• Honduras has the potential to become a
world class tourist destination, especially
with its long list of investment incentives,
including the Tourism Free Zone Law and
the Law of Tourism Incentives. Some of
the most recent foreign investors to
choose Honduras include first class hotels
and several restaurant franchises.
ANABIR
• The National Association of Real Estate
Agencies in Honduras has over 60% of the real
estate agencies registered as members.
• We have a Code of Ethics and we are working
on the License Law and a Continues
Educational Program.
• Our newest MLS system is integrated with El
Salvador and Guatemala, and soon we will have
all of the Central American countries.
Now, Just Let me introduce to
you…
• To Larry Schelesser, Owner of
Roatan Real Estate and one of our
newest members of ANABIR in
ROATAN.
• Larry move from the USA to
Honduras, and he can tell you his
experience in our beautiful islands of
Roatan.