Guatemala : Investment Climate Assessment, Volume 1

Guatemala : Investment Climate Assessment, Volume 1

Guatemala has achieved substantial progress in improving its investment climate since 2004. Despite these achievements, Guatemala continues to face significant challenges. Guatemala's overall ease of doing business ranking is still relatively...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	World Bank
Format:	Investment Climate Assessment (ICA)
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ACCESS TO CREDIT ACCESS TO FINANCING ACCOUNTING AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES AGRICULTURE ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION AVERAGE GROWTH AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY BANKING SECTORS BENCHMARK BENCHMARKING BENCHMARKS BENEFICIARIES BILATERAL TRADE BUSINESS CLIMATE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT CALCULATIONS CAPITAL ACCUMULATION CAPITAL INFLOWS CAPITAL MARKETS CASH TRANSFERS COLLATERAL COMMODITIES COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMER GOODS CONSUMERS CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTION CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CREDIT BUREAUS CREDIT GROWTH CREDIT LINE CREDITOR CREDITOR RIGHTS CURRENCY REGULATIONS DEBT DEBTORS DEFICITS DEMAND FOR CREDIT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY DIRECT COST DISPUTE RESOLUTION DOMESTIC CREDIT DOMESTIC ECONOMIES DOMESTIC MARKET EARNINGS ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INTEGRATION ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES ENFORCEMENT POWER EQUIPMENT EXPENDITURE EXPORT GROWTH EXPORT MARKET EXPORT MARKETS EXPORT PERFORMANCE EXPORTER EXPORTERS EXPORTS EXPROPRIATION EXTERNAL FINANCING EXTERNAL TRADE FINANCIAL BENEFITS FINANCIAL FLOWS FINANCIAL INFORMATION FINANCIAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCIAL SECTOR FINANCIAL SERVICES FINANCIAL SITUATION FIRM PERFORMANCE FISCAL MANAGEMENT FOOD PRICE FOOD PRICES FORECASTS FOREIGN COMPANIES FOREIGN CURRENCY FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT FOREIGN EXCHANGE FOREIGN INVESTORS FOREIGN MARKETS FOREIGN PENETRATION FREE TRADE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS GDP GENERAL SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES GOVERNANCE INDICATORS GOVERNANCE ISSUES GOVERNANCE REGULATION GOVERNMENT REGULATION GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROSS VALUE GROUP OF INVESTORS GROWTH RATE GROWTH RATES HUMAN CAPITAL ILLITERACY INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS INSOLVENCY PROCEEDINGS INSTRUMENT INTEREST RATE INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS INTERNATIONAL MARKETS INTERNATIONAL PRICES INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS INTERNATIONAL TRADE INVESTING INVESTMENT CLIMATE INVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENT INVESTMENT DECISIONS INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES INVESTMENT PATTERNS INVESTMENT STRATEGIES ITC JUDICIAL SYSTEM JUSTICE SYSTEM LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR STANDARDS LEGAL SYSTEM LOAN LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS LOW TARIFFS LOW-INCOME LOW-INCOME FAMILIES MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MARKET ACCESS MARKET SHARE MEDIUM ENTERPRISE MICRO-FINANCE MICRO-FINANCE INSTITUTIONS MICROFINANCE MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS MONETARY FUND MOVABLE COLLATERAL OUTPUT OUTPUTS OUTREACH PROGRAMS OUTSOURCING OVERDRAFT FACILITIES PER CAPITA INCOME PERFORMANCE MEASURES POTENTIAL INVESTORS POVERTY ALLEVIATION PRIVATE BANKS PRIVATE INVESTMENT PRIVATE PROPERTY PRIVATIZATION PROBABILITY PRODUCTIVITY INCREASES PROPERTY RIGHTS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE RED TAPE REGIONAL INTEGRATION REGULATORY FRAMEWORK REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS REGULATORY REGIME REINVESTMENT REMOTE AREAS RENEWABLE ENERGY RISK MANAGEMENT RULE OF LAW SAFETY NET SALES SAVINGS SAVINGS ACCOUNTS SOCIAL SECURITY SUSTAINABLE GROWTH TARIFF SYSTEM TAX TAX RATES TAX SYSTEM TAXATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELEPHONE LINES TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRADE BALANCE TRADE BARRIERS TRADE CREDIT TRADE DEFICIT TRADE REGIME TRADITIONAL INVESTORS TRANSPARENCY TREATY UNEMPLOYMENT VALUE ADDED VERTICAL INTEGRATION WAGES WEALTH WORKING CAPITAL WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS WORLD ECONOMY WORLD TRADE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/06/10286944/guatemala-investment-climate-assessment-vol-1-2 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7820

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Summary:	Guatemala has achieved substantial progress in improving its investment climate since 2004. Despite these achievements, Guatemala continues to face significant challenges. Guatemala's overall ease of doing business ranking is still relatively low-114th out of 178 countries, and it falls well behind the rankings of comparator countries such as El Salvador (69), Nicaragua (93), and Panama (65). Economic growth in Guatemala over the past 25 years has been very modest, even by Latin American standards. Productivity and export growth has been disappointing. The Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) brings new opportunities as well as competitive pressures. To be competitive, Guatemala needs to aggressively tackle reforms in three main areas: infrastructure, governance, and access to finance. Reforms in these areas, as well as other targeted initiatives, will better position Guatemala to take advantage of CAFTA. The Government should also build on what has been working in trade promotion. Road, port, and airport quality could all be improved, with private sector participation playing a key role. Electricity subsidies should be targeted in a more efficient manner and the social tariff system should be reconsidered. More effective mechanisms to promote investments in renewable energy should be adopted. Guatemala should continue reforming its regulation of private business activity-especially in firm registration, construction permits, and tax and customs administration. The government should attack corruption directly. Concerted, long-term effort is needed to strengthen contract enforcement and the judiciary. To lower crime, the strategy should be to emphasize preventive measures and support greater police enforcement. The growth of commercially oriented microfinance institutions (MFIs) should be promoted through an adequate regulatory and supervisory framework. Accounting and auditing practices, financial information infrastructure, and regulatory norms for movable collateral should be strengthened.