Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | N | NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs

NICARAGUA AND HONDURAS JOIN CAFTA; THREE DOWN, THREE TO GO.

Article Excerpt
Honduras and Nicaragua have brought to three the number of countries now fully participating in the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the US. The latest officially came on board April 1; El Salvador has been a CAFTA country since March 1 (see NotiCen, 2006-03-02).

Nicaragua celebrated the event by shipping a consignment of red beans, vegetables, and fresh fish to Texas. These were products of small or medium-sized businesses in Nuevo Guinea, El Almendro, and Matagalpa. A jubilant President Enrique Bolanos looked on as the ship departed, accompanied by US Ambassador Paul Trivelli. The president said, "We are going to sell more and more. There will be more progress, more employment in Nicaragua. CAFTA has begun."

Bolanos congratulated the Asamblea Nacional (AN) for ratifying the CAFTA bill and for passing additional laws demanded by the US. Their action, he said, "was an act of patriotism" that would help the country produce goods and overcome poverty.

Bolanos' government has estimated that the onset of the trade pact would add US$40 million to its annual exports to the US, which in 2005 amounted to US$274.9 million. During that period, Nicaragua imported US$522 million. That number, too, will increase, but in all the jubilation, there was no mention of by how much.

The business community was pleased to see the deal come into effect. The president of the Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada (COSEP) predicted Nicaragua's growth would exceed 6% in 2006.

In Honduras, the celebrations were muted by ongoing doubt and opposition...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!