Guatemala: Foreign investment contributed more than 800 million dollars –

Guatemala City/Prensa Latina

Foreign direct investment contributed 803.1 million dollars to Guatemala during the first six months of this year, the official Diario de CentroAmérica reported here today.

This capital is in line with the numbers projected for 2024, it is slightly below the expected half, explained the vice president of the country’s central bank, Alfredo Blanco, quoted by the press.

The majority comes from Panama, with 248.1 million; followed by Central America and the Dominican Republic, 286, 6; and in third place is the United States, with 197.4 million dollars, the financial entity stated.

At the end of last August, Vice Minister of Economy Antonio Romero remarked that the nation hoped to attract 1.9 billion dollars a year for this concept.

Data from the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat) shows the 934.9 million dollars received in 2020, 3,461.8 in 2021, 1,442.1 in 2022, and 1,585 in 2023.

The president of that entity, Álvaro González, stated some time ago that for the next annual period there would be 1,850, which is why he described the trend as positive.

However, he noted, it is not enough for what this Central American territory needs, since Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic spend four billion dollars annually, he asserted.

In mid-June, the Government of Guatemala launched the National Strategy to Attract Foreign Direct Investment, an instrument to boost economic activity and promote new opportunities during these four years of management.

At the event, the president of the country, Bernardo Arévalo, specified the reconstruction and expansion of infrastructure, apart from the promotion of institutional reforms such as the Competition Law.

However, the president stated, we are aware that there is much that can be done from the Executive, from the Ministry of Economy specifically, to open more opportunities for growth and development.

We will seek to attract innovation, knowledge, technologies, management systems that will improve work, companies, by making them more productive and competitive, the 66-year-old politician stressed in front of different invited actors.