Browse Honduras Daily Stories

Honduras's maquiladora industry is launching a strategy to attract foreign investment and open new industrial parks, banking on tariff relief for Central American textiles to US markets and a joint effort with government to improve the country's investor perception.

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.

The Cortés Chamber of Commerce president cited a sharp trade deficit with China—Honduras imports about $210 million monthly in Chinese goods while exporting far less—and called for equal competitive conditions and enforcement of tax and labor laws for all foreign investors.

Honduras deposited its ratification of the ICSID convention on July 17, becoming the 159th state to join the World Bank dispute-settlement mechanism for foreign-investment disputes, effective August 16.

Honduras and the Dominican Republic extended their memorandum of understanding between their investment promotion agencies for another year through July 2027, aimed at attracting foreign investment and strengthening bilateral economic ties.

Mario Hung, representing Honduras's Chinese Descendants Association, defended Asian-owned businesses operating in Honduras as legal and tax-compliant, countering a recent Congressional motion to supervise and regulate them.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cortés warned that international companies have suspended investment plans in Honduras pending the outcome of U.S. tariff negotiations, citing concern that a 10% tariff and potential further restrictions could push capital to competing Central American countries and hurt the manufacturing and job sectors.