On the 60th day since the new government authorities took office, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA) in association with the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (Fundesa) yesterday held the conference “Towards Growth with “Inclusive Social Development.”
One of the participants in the forum was President Bernardo Arévalo, who highlighted to a group of businessmen his guidelines regarding the attraction of investment, the business climate, the legislative agenda at the economic level, as well as the need for social investment. in infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Susan Segal, president and executive director of the Society of the Americas/Council of the Americas, reiterated the position that Guatemala has in the context of attracting foreign direct investment and the strategic role it plays with the United States as a trading partner. .
Members of the economic cabinet also participated in the activity, who announced the different programs to be developed to generate a climate of stability for potential investors.
Meanwhile, the capital’s mayor, Ricardo Quiñonez, presented the Guatemala No Se Detiene (GNSD) program, which has identified the execution of several investment programs related to mass mobility and urbanization.
They reiterate commitments
During the activity, representatives and delegates from several companies participated in a panel-forum and one of the coincidences is that they maintain their investment and reinvestment programs in Guatemala in different areas to generate sources of employment, now taking advantage of the conditions of the nearshoring.
José González-Campo senior director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability CMI -Corporación Multi Inversiones- explained that there are many opportunities in the generation of electrical energy and that he recently participated in the awarding of contracts within the framework of the PEG4 tender.
On December 26, 2023, said tender was carried out and with an investment of US$400 million, it is expected that starting in 2026, the national interconnected system will have energy supply from hydroelectric, solar, wind and gas generation sources.
Julio Álvarez, from Citi Guatemala, declared that one of the most attractive things the country has is economic stability and, although the country does not have accelerated economic growth, like in Asia, the stability that has been shown in recent years through of an independent central bank and a Monetary Board where there is participation from many sectors, has given stability to the exchange rate and inflation, which makes the country’s economy attractive for investment.
He assured that lately there has been high growth in the consumer, light manufacturing and construction sectors, among others, which have been supported by a solid financial system.
Andrew Biles, board member and CEO of Chiquita, indicated that in 1990 they invested in Puerto Barrios and are extremely happy with the workforce and local government. “We invest all operations in Guatemala, we do not take out the money, but we reinvest to increase the capacity of Puerto Barrios and for that we need good and clear legal rules for all players in the industry.”
Paul Dyck, vice president of Government, Global Affairs and Business Diplomacy at Walmart, emphasized that they see many investment opportunities in Guatemala and there is a consistent strategy for the country, especially with the introduction of new technologies.
He explained that there are more than 260 stores, more than two thousand associates and many good suppliers, so the strategy is the same: “There are four formats to serve customers, for the four socioeconomic levels, and the strategy is to invest in new stores and more suppliers.”
Gerardo Martínez, managing director for Latin America North, Latin America and the Caribbean at AWS (Amazon), stated that these countries have realized that technology can play a fundamental role in attracting investment and economic development.
“In the world, day by day we see the change of ecosystems and we have to be part of that equation. “Innovation becomes the door to the economic development of countries and it is essential to have a strategy that helps achieve the long-term and sustained growth that is needed in economies,” he assured.
And Juan Pablo Mata, CEO of Grupo La Mariposa, agreed that there is a lot of potential to generate inclusive growth and prosperity.
Segal reiterated in the panel that Guatemala has many growth opportunities in different sectors to attract investment and cited manufacturing activity as an example.
“Guatemala has a great opportunity to attract investment and generate growth. Collaboration between the private and public sectors is key to achieving that goal and conferences like today’s offer the necessary space to build those bridges and, in addition, show those opportunities to the world,” he noted.
“Guatemala has a lot of attractiveness for investing”
Susan Segal, president and executive director of the Society of the Americas/Council of the Americas, stated that “today we are here to discuss the moment in which Guatemala finds itself and the opportunity that the country has to achieve economic, sustainable, inclusive growth. , constant and long term.”
To begin, he said that the attractive principles for Guatemala should be highlighted, from the perspective of a foreign investor:
- Guatemala is the largest industrial country in Central America with a wide variety of productive sectors, such as manufacturing, food, housing, textiles, energy, agribusiness, commerce, pharmaceuticals, the financial sector, services, very strong entrepreneurs, telecommunications and more.
- It has Free Trade Agreements, including those between Central America and the United States.
- It has the potential to look north and have more integration with Mexico and the United States. That is, it has the historic opportunity to be one of the main countries that can take advantage of the opportunities of the nearshoring and that is real, huge and good.
- With the added value of the development of Southern Mexico, there is another huge opportunity for the country.
Segal recognized that democracy is very strong in Guatemala following the recent presidential elections, which were free and democratic. “All these elements have created the historic opportunity to create long-term economic and political stability and growth and, as a result, attract foreign direct investment,” he emphasized.
“Today we are here to discuss the moment in which Guatemala finds itself and the opportunity that the country has to achieve economic growth”
Susan Segal, president Society of the Americas
So how can they make the best use of this opportunity? One of the most important ways is collaboration with the private sector, to work together for the comprehensive development of the country. More strategic investment is needed in major industries, such as energy, transportation, roads, telecommunications, ports and airports, critical sectors to take advantage of the infrastructure opportunity.
But of course, the private sector cannot do it alone and neither can the government, so they must work together to promote the economic and social agenda. Institutions around investment must also be strengthened to maximize opportunities.
“We believe that the public and private sectors of the United States can be important partners to achieve Guatemala’s economic, social and inclusive growth goals, since it is its main trading partner and we see a lot of collaboration,” he noted.
Segal finally said that they are in Guatemala to build bridges between them, and show the international community and provide visibility of all the opportunities that exist in the country.
Work agenda
The Minister of Finance, Jonathan Menkos Zeissig, explained to the businessmen the main actions that they will be carrying out to attract foreign and local investment, among which he mentioned strategic infrastructure projects such as the metro, rural electrification, roads and the expansion of the AC route. -9:
- Section 1 of the metro in Guatemala City.
- Completion of the CA-9 North expansion towards Santo Tomás de Castilla Izabal.
- Universal electricity coverage.
- Increased construction and improvement of rural roads.
- Metro rail between Villa Nueva and Guatemala City to Palencia.
- Expansion of the project pre-investment fund.
The minister explained that one of the objectives of this type of mechanism is that Guatemala can reach Investment Grade in the short term, by the country risk rating agencies “and that is how the world will see us.”
He announced that the first meeting of the country-risk table will be held on March 22, in which the public and private sectors participate, with a view to future evaluations of the agencies.
Finally, Menkos commented “that by being on this side” you can see the work carried out by institutions such as Fundesa and other organizations for the good of the country, and reiterated that no changes are expected in fiscal policy.
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