Guatemala City, by AGN – To continue on the path of growth of Guatemala as a destination for investment and nearshoring, President Alejandro Giammattei spoke at the Forbes Economy and Business Forum in Spanish about the central government’s efforts to promote laws to provide legal certainty for investments.
President Giammattei explained that the Executive Branch has been advancing a package of pro-investment laws since 2020.
These actions are part of the Guatemala Moving Forward plan, designed to maintain economic growth and development opportunities for Guatemalans.
Regulations
The Guatemalan president explained the approved regulations, which are as follows:
-Prime interest rate in social housing
-Procedure simplification
-Law of Insolvency
-Regulation of Free Trade Zones and Special Regimens
-Leasing Law
-Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for the Escuintla-Puerto Quetzal Highway.
In addition, the Guatemalan president pointed out one of the most important recent laws, the Law for the Promotion and Investment of Foreign Capital.
“The law is unique across the region. It will maintain fiscal conditions and legal certainty for up to 10 years for investors coming to set up their first investments in Guatemala,” he added.
Services and Digitalization
Guatemala keeps moving forward in strengthening and improving its services. In this regard, the president stated that his administration has promoted an electronic government. One of these actions is the Commercial Registry, which is 100% digitized.
This has made it possible to progress with a different one-stop shop for investors, construction, and foreign trade.
According to the president, “This creates a central point where investors can find all the required information, learn about the country’s competitive advantages, the necessary steps to establish their investment, and have access to specialized advisors who will assist them in the process of investing in Guatemala.”
Credit Rating Agencies
The world’s most important credit rating agencies, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service, and Standard & Poor’s, upgraded Guatemala’s position to positive and stable thanks to actions in promoting the country’s development and growth.
The head of the Executive Branch explained that this consolidated the three out of three as the only country in the region and Latin America that managed to surpass its previous rating. “While others decreased, we grew,” he said.
Stability
President Giammattei also stressed that the country is experiencing a great moment for investments due to its stability.
On this matter, at the beginning of the conference, he mentioned the Bloomberg publication, which emphasized that the Guatemalan currency is the most stable in Latin America in the last 20 years.
