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With help, Honduran shoes
slowly edging into international markets
By SUYAPA CARIAS
TEGUCIGALPA — After three years of receiving technical assistance from both
the Honduran and the Chinese governments, the national shoe industry is
finally taking off.
Members of a Taiwanese mission who recently visited the country, came to the
conclusion that the upcoming national shoe industry is ready to take the
next step: to improve production, design and marketing, in order to compete
with world famous brands that have currently invaded the local market.
Ultimately, the goal is exportation.
“During the last three years, our government has sent ten missions of eight
experts in this field. Their job was to transfer their technological
knowledge to Honduran producers,” said Juan Carlos Yang, Press Attaché of
the Taiwanese Embassy.
According to the foreign official, the aid provided by the International
Development Cooperation Foundation (IDCF) has indeed helped producers make
considerable advances in such aspects as quality control, design and
integral management.
Meanwhile, the Director of the General Office of Development of the Ministry
of Commerce and Industry, Oscar Ortiz Ulloa, said his office is convinced
this has become a strategic sector, due it’s great potential for growth.
So far, the cooperation programs offered by the two governments, has
benefited a total of 168 model shoe factories with high level assistance
including technical and administrative diagnosis services. Moreover, 45
specialized seminars were given to more than 800 local technicians.
IDCF has donated 13 shoe making machines, 60 manual tool packages, and the
plan is to organize the first shoe design competition, in an effort to
fortify this sector’s competitiveness.
The latest mission from Taiwan was conformed by Michael Chen, Jeffrey Huang,
Rita Chan and Thomas Lee. “We believe that by improving production and
organizing all national producers, the shoe industry can have a promising
future,” they commented at the end of their trip. They were seeking to
identify an institution in the country to carry out and follow up the
program.
“Honduran shoes are off an excellent quality, but it is imperative to create
a brand that can penetrate the international market and become famous.”
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BUSINESS AND
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK |
IMF visits Honduras
A delegation of The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in Honduras to make
a revision of the economic goals for the year 2003.
The delegation will evaluate the results of last year’s plan during their
twelve-day stay and depending on the results, the government of Honduras
could negotiate cooperation for the next three years.
The previous economic plan for the year 2001 was terminated on the 31st of
December of 2002 due to fiscal irregularities.
Some of the goals for the financial program of International Monetary Fund
for 2003 are the rationalization of public employment and establishment of a
three-year expenditure plan. In addition, the approval of the new Water Law
and the auction of a communications frequency band will also be determined
as conditions for further cooperation during the visit. -La Tribuna
25 percent of telephone company will be privatized
The manager of the Honduran Phone Company (HONDUTEL), Alonso Victor
Valenzuela, announced this week that over the next three years, 25% of the
national phone will be sold to private enterprise. The objective of this
move is to make the company more competitive in relation to other
telecommunication companies.
Valenzuela made these statements after holding a meeting with the Minister
to the President, Luis Cosenza in which they discussed the
“Telecommunications Policy,” a three- year government plan. —La Tribuna
Central Bank earns 13 million lempiras a week with devaluation
According to banker Jorge Bueso Arias, the Central Bank of Honduras
perceives approximately 13 million lempiras a week by devaluating the
national currency by US$00.02. Bueso Arias stated that solution to the
problem of diminishing buying power of the lempira would be to establish a
stable exchange rate, such as in the case of El Salvador prior to
dollarization.
Ever since June 1994, the Central Bank as maintained an exchange rate
through it’s System of Public Auction of Foreign Currency, which allows
Honduran businesspeople access to U.S. dollars for commercial transactions.
—El Heraldo
Gas prices rise again
Despite the fact that the international market price has decreased, as of
last Sunday morning the prices of gasoline rose. Extra gasoline rose by
Lps.00.29, regular gasoline by Lps.00.41 and the tank of LPG, by Lps. 1.12.
On the other hand, the price of diesel and kerosene decreased. —La Tribuna |
