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Central America. ANABIR National Association of Real Estate Agencies. Let’s Start with Central America in General:. The Central American Countries are: Belize Guatemala Honduras El Salvador Nicaragua Costa Rica Panama. Guatemala. El Salvador. Nicaragua. Costa Rica. Panama.
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Central America ANABIR National Association of Real Estate Agencies
Let’s Start with Central America in General: • The Central American Countries are: • Belize • Guatemala • Honduras • El Salvador • Nicaragua • Costa Rica • Panama
Facts & Figures LANGUAGE • Spanish is our main language. But, English is widely used as second language. GOVERNMENT SYSTEM • Democracy: Elections every 4 years • 3 Branches: Legislative, Executive, Judicial • 5 Political Parties, with 2 stronger parties. • 18 Departments each led by a President-appointed Governor.
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 28-foot 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.
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.
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.
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 non-wood 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.
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.
FACILITIESon the Industrial Parks • 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.
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.
