Browse Honduras Daily Stories

The Honduran tax authority (SAR) will hold Misión Mipyme on October 20 in El Progreso, offering business registration assistance, advisory services, and financing options for small enterprises and entrepreneurs.

Protest signs against Chinese retailers appeared in Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela as small Honduran merchants express alarm over competing with larger, better-capitalized stores that can import goods in bulk.

Chinese-backed stores expanding across Honduras since the 2023 diplomatic opening have left small merchants reporting sales drops of up to 70% and facing unfair competition through alleged tax breaks and inflated rent bids, prompting calls for equal regulatory oversight.

Merchants warn that the growing presence of Chinese products and stores threatens Honduras's small and medium businesses, which struggle to compete on price and selection, with concerns over a proposed mega-store affecting thousands of market vendors.

The head of Honduras's micro and small-business association claims Chinese-owned companies operating in Honduras receive tax exemptions on imports, sales, income, and services that local entrepreneurs do not, creating unequal competition.

A representative of small and medium enterprises warned that ongoing power cuts and rising fuel prices pose an existential threat to hundreds of businesses across Honduras.

Small business owners in three Olancho municipalities are protesting the possible opening of Chinese-owned retail stores, saying they cannot compete and fear loss of sales and income.

About 100 formal restaurants have closed in Honduras through 2026 as economic contraction cuts consumer visits and rising utility costs, water shortages, and operational expenses squeeze the sector, says the president of the Honduran Gastronomy Association.

About 300 shoe and textile workshops have closed in the San Pedro Sula area over 24 months as cheap imports from China and Panama undercut local makers, affecting over 1,500 workers and prompting artisans to seek better access to raw materials and financing.

Economic Development Minister Eddy Ordóñez said the government is shifting from steep fines to warnings and guidance for small businesses, has conducted over 1,500 compliance trainings, and expects to announce a manufacturing-sector expansion creating more than 1,600 jobs.

Honduras's Health Ministry is now requiring sellers of used clothing to obtain a sanitary license, a new requirement that traders say costs about 21,000 lempiras (roughly $840) and must be completed within three days, raising concerns among small vendors who previously faced no such mandate.