BUSINESS & ECONOMICS |
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS |
Monday, July 31, 2000 Online Edition 31 |
|
Honduran
coffee growers in financial crisis By MARTHA CONTRERAS TEGUCIGALPA -- Despite last week's increase in coffee prices, national
producers face heavy losses due to overall low prices in the world market
and the US$20-$23 penalty per hundredweight slapped on Honduran coffee due
to its alleged inferior quality. Coffee
is currently the nation's leading export earner. With the announcement last week that the Brazilian coffee harvest for
next year was damaged due to low temperatures, the daily El Heraldo
reported, coffee prices shot up from US $84.75 to US $102.20 in New York's
commodities markets. As a
result, the price of a quintal (100 lbs.) received by producers has gone up
from Lps. 600 to Lps. 800; however, the cost to produce a quintal is between
Lps. 700 and Lps. 800. This week coffee prices went down again when Brazil announced that it had
enough coffee in reserve to supply demand and that last year's harvest of
coffee beans was not affected, as the beans were already dried. "This year's harvest for next year's sale is what will bring in the
money," said hopeful Honduran coffee grower Ricardo Ulloa.
This expresses the optimism of many that the large losses of Brazil,
one of the largest exporters of coffee, will raise the international price
of coffee next year and create gains for smaller coffee suppliers like
Honduras. The projection made by Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) on July
26 is for the value of a quintal to be US$86 in September, and US$100.95 in
July, 2001. Meanwhile, coffee growers last week requested financial support from the
Honduran government as many have been forced to abandon their plantations
because the actual selling price of coffee does not cover their costs.
They are asking for a US$350 million subsidy from the government to
compensate for the low international price of coffee. Support institutes such as IHCAFE, the National Coffee Fund (FCN),
the National Association of Coffee Growers of Honduras (ANACAFE), and others
do not have the resources to cover these losses and are hoping the
government will step in. It is worth mentioning that Honduran coffee has to raise its quality in
order to compete in the international market, and that growers will continue
to bear heavy losses as their is little hope for higher prices in the short
term. As coffee is an important
part of the Honduran economy, a strategy must be put into play to improve
quality, and new markets must be sought other than the United States, so
that coffee growers will begin to make gains and for the improvement of
Honduran economy. Ties
between Honduras and Germany have increased, but not enough By MARTHA CONTRERAS TEGUCIGALPA -- Although the number of Honduran companies affiliated to
the Honduran-German Chamber of Commerce has increased almost 70 percent
since 1998, from 30 to 51, this number is still not enough for the German
government to provide significant amounts of support or to make a large
effort to establish business ties in Honduras, according to Monica Klenk,
the chamber's general manager. "The more companies affiliated the more we can achieve with the
support of the German government," she said. The goal of the chamber, she said, is to create a bridge between Honduran
and German companies as well as to promote interchanges among the two
countries. She added that the chamber is the contact a business must establish if it
is interested in attending one of Germany's world famous trade fairs, such
as the ITB (Tourism Fair) or the ANUGA (Fruit Fair). According to Klenk, the majority of Honduran companies that attend fairs
in Germany are involved in the sale of handicrafts, yet it is not limited to
just this line of products. Any
firm, from a fruit company to a chain of hotels, can benefit from these
fairs. This year alone, eight
Senior Expert Service (SES) representatives who are retired German
businesspersons came to share technical knowledge with Honduran companies.
The program is made up of about 4,000 retired Germans who are willing
to travel to countries such as Honduras, and with the help of the German
government the expenses covered by the host company are minimal.
Publicity is what is lacking, she said, so that this opportunity is
better exploited by small and large businesses in Honduras. Klenk said members of the
Chamber of Commerce have free access to information and a bulletin about
German companies interested in doing businesses in Honduras, which are many.
The chamber helps its members travel to the fairs by establishing
contacts in Germany and offering discounts on plane tickets and hotel
reservations. A company
automatically becomes a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Regional-German for Central America and the Caribbean (ZAKK). The chamber also offers translations of documents in English and Spanish
to German or vice versa, and guest speakers are invited to give conferences
and provide information to interested companies. Among its current 51 Honduran affiliates are Almacen Industrial,
Lufthansa, Lloyds Bank, Hotel Princess, Dacotrans, Hotel Copantl, and
Hondusoft. For more information on the Honduran-German Chamber of Commerce and
affiliate companies, visit its homepage: <http://www.ahkzakk.com/honduras,
e-mail: ccha@david.intertel.hn>.
|
IMF pressures Congress In a meeting held on Tuesday with Central Bank officials and legislators,
representatives of the International Monetary Fund expressed that although
Honduras has made significant progress toward complying with economic
measures imposed as requisites for IMF aid, several new laws need to be
passed by the National Congress as soon as possible.
Among these are the Electricity Sub-sector Law and the
Administrative Facilitation Law. -- El Heraldo Forum on campesinos without land held On Monday, President Carlos Flores inaugurated the first International
Form of Landless Peasants in San Pedro Sula.
In his address to campesino representatives, the president promised
to prioritize the rural land issue on his agenda and try to reverse
immigration of the landless to the cities and other urban centers by
promoting agriculture. At the same time, Trinidad Membreno, secretary of the Coordinating
Council of Campesino Organizations of Honduras (COCOCH), stated that
300,000 campesino families in Honduras do not own a piece of land. Membreno also said that neo-liberal policies have not promoted land
tenancy, but rather the accumulation of wealth by multinational
corporations while 82 of every 100 Honduran families live below the
poverty line. While he
praised government efforts toward reducing the national debt, he said
rural development programs should also be created, facilitating technical
assistance and credit. -- El Heraldo 205,000 tourists visited Honduras in '99 According to recent statistics released by the Honduran Immigration
Department, of the 305,253 foreigners who came to Honduras last year, 67
percent of these were tourists. Most
of the tourists traveled during the months of June, July, August and
December. -- El Heraldo Preferential exports up US $79.9 million According to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, preferential exports
rose from US$349.6 during the first half of 1999 to US$429.5 during the
same period this year. While
40 percent of Honduran export products are destined for Europe and 35
percent stay in Central America, the United States is the single largest
importer, buying 20 percent of this country's exports. -- El Heraldo Housing loans interest rates decrease 2% The Honduran Banking Association (AHIBA) this week reported that interest
rates for funds destined to the National Production and Housing Fund (FONAPROVI)
have dropped from 18 percent to 16 percent and rates on personal loans
have gone down to 27 percent to 28 percent from 38 percent last year. However, AHIBA Director Ana Cristina Mejia de Pereira said lower interest rates are still not enough to reactivate the demand for loans and she attributes the decrease to the economic recession. -- La Tribuna |
Monday, July 24, 2000 Online Edition 30 |
C.A.
tobacco companies unite Earlier this month, nearly 100 percent of the shareholders in each of the
British American Tobacco companies in Central America voted in favor of
forming just one corporation, British America Tobacco Central America, S.A. BATCA's main office will be located in San Jose, Costa Rica and the
factory in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. -- La Prensa Tourism
campaign launched For the first time in the history of Honduras, a radio and television
campaign is underway to educate citizens on how they should treat tourists.
During her televised speech inaugurating the campaign, Tourism
Minister Ana Abarca emphasized the need to exploit the natural warmth of
Hondurans to promote tourism. The campaign will be presented in three phases, the first explaining how
the nation's economic development can improve through tourism, followed by
tourism's contribution to a more even distribution of wealth, and finally
how each Honduran can become a part of the tourism industry. 20%
increase in cocoa exports During the first six months of this year, cocoa exports have risen 20
percent compared to 1999, during which only 33 percent of the cocoa crop was
harvested due to damage caused by Hurricane Mitch. Tito Jimenez, manager of the Cocoa Association, says the increase can
also be attributed to a rising demand for cocoa in other Central American
countries, the United States, Brazil and some European countries, as well as
to technical assistance provided by the Ministry of Agriculture. --
El Tiempo Alliances
made with Mexican companies As a result of the Free Trade Agreement between Mexico and the Northern
Triangle, several small Honduran businesses have established commercial
relationships with Mexican companies. Two companies that produce finished wood products, five shoe factories
and several metal-working companies in San Pedro Sula have created alliances
with Mexican companies for the purpose of obtaining improved technology that
will enable them to produce more and better quality products. --
El Tiempo
Car registration up According to Tax Department statistics, the number of vehicles registered
in Honduras in 1999 rose 96,950 over 1998, for a total of 417,431.
Eighty percent of this number were personal vehicles.
By department, the greatest number of registered cars was 159,918 in
Francisco Morazan, while only 178 were registered in Gracias a Dios. --
El Heraldo Most
savings in Francisco Morazan A total of 583,508 accounts amounting to Lps. 5,239.7 million place the
residents of the department of Francisco Morazan first among the nation's
savers. The department of
Cortes, with 514,425 savings accounts totaling Lps. 3,548.9, placed second
and the department of Atlantida, with 125,234 adding up to Lps. 837.8
million, placed third. -- El Tiempo U.S.
President Clinton to advocate more debt relief for Honduras White House officials announced earlier this week that during the
upcoming Okinawa Summit, President Clinton plans to pressure leaders of
industrialized nations to expand debt relief for Honduras as a means of
eradicating poverty. James Steinberg, assistant director of the National Security Council,
stated, "In Honduras' case, both issues -- debt relief and poverty
eradication -- stand to the forefront, especially since the US$130 pardoned
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is going to be used by the Honduran
government to hire 1,000 new school teachers, buy medicines and build
low-cost housing. According
to the IMF, Honduras is the poorest Ibero-American nation and the second
country after Bolivia to be incorporated into the Heavily Indebted Poor
Country's program in Latin America, following seven African and Pacific
nations. During the Okinawa summit, the IMF will study financial issues faced by
Honduras while the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other
international credit organizations examine poverty and development. As part of IMF's overall strategy for aiding Honduras, steps have been
taken toward fighting corruption, strengthening tax collection, reforming
the social welfare system and improving access to medical services and
education. -- La Tribuna
|
|
Monday, July 17, 2000 Online Edition 29 |
Lps. 95.17 needed to feed family of five The cost of
feeding a family of five in Honduras has risen Lps. 11.48 between January
and June 2000 from 83.69 to Lps. 95.17, an amount that is equivalent to a
12.25 percent increase -- higher than the 6.3 percent increase in inflation
reported by the Central Bank for the same period. According to
labor ministry statistics, the daily minimum wage is just Lps. 47.92 --
clearly not enough to cover the 2,300 calories needed daily by the human
body. According to
experts, the difference in percentages can be attributed to the fact that in
calculating the cost of living only 30 basic products are considered, while
the Central Bank takes into account 80 basic consumer products when
calculating the rate of inflation. -- El Heraldo US$18M in bonds issued to BANCORP clients An official
report issued by the Ministry of Finance confirmed that it issued 974 bonds
in favor of the clients of the bankrupt banking company BANCORP.
A total of 381 three-year bonds, 170 five-year bonds, 343 seven-year
bonds and 80 ten-year bonds were issued to mortgage and trust fund
participants. -- El Heraldo Satellite phone services available Starting last
month, the multi-national company Goldstar began offering personal telephone
communication services by satellite in Honduras.
Now one of the 140 countries in which this service is available,
users benefit from Goldstar's 48 low earth orbiting satellites that allow
them to place phone calls to anywhere in the world in less than five
seconds. To date, only
10 users are registered in Honduras, but the company expects this number to
increase to between 400 and 500 shortly.
Currently, the cost of a satellite phone averages US$ 1,500 and the
cost per minute between $0.90 and US$1.75. --
El Heraldo
|
|
Monday, July 10, 2000 Online Edition 28 |
Medical fees to be charged in U.S. dollars The Honduran
Medical Association approved a measure last month in which all fees for
medical attention and doctors fees will be charged in U.S. dollars or the
equivalent in lempiras. The measure was
approved by congress and published in the official government newspaper
"La Gaceta," on June 17, making it law. According to
Health Minister Plutarco Castellanos, who approves the new law, setting the
fee at $25 will prevent some doctors from charging more than the official
rate for services rendered. -- El
Heraldo Union
claims BCH stats incorrect After the
Ministry of Labor announced it would not revise the minimum wage until
December because the rate of inflation is not higher than 12 percent,
several workers unions claimed that the Central Bank' economic indicators
are incorrect. They also stated
that even the economists association has criticized the way the Central Bank
calculates inflation and cited United Nations statistics stating that most
Hondurans live on less than US$1.00 per day. --La
Tribuna
WTO to resolve trade problems Due to a trade
conflict between Honduras and Nicaragua that began when the former imposed a
35 percent tariff on Honduran imports, the World Trade Organization (WTO) in
Geneva will begin a series of consultations concerning the problem this
week. With the purpose of
resolving the conflict, the objective is to establish WTO resolution that
both countries will adhere to. -- La
Tribuna China donates US$250,000 The Chinese
Ambassador to Honduras, Ching Yen Chang on Monday handed a US$250,000
donation to Foreign Minister Roberto Flores Bermudez for modernizing the
ministry. Flores said the
funds will be used to conduct projects that had been on stand-by due to lack
of financing. -- El Heraldo
|
|
Monday, July 3, 2000 Online Edition 27 |
Lps. 88 million invested in tourism this year Taking
advantage of the tourism incentive law, about Lps. 88 million has been
invested in tourism projects so far this year.
The projects, which included expanding, remodeling and new
constructions mostly in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and Roatan,
provided 374 new jobs and more than Lps. 12 million in wages. Other projects
include five new franchises and 17 projects such as car rentals,
transportation, restaurants and recreational facilities. --
El Tiempo Watershed management limited by legislation An
inter-institutional seminar on Integrated Watershed Management held last
week came to the conclusion that too many laws pertaining to different
institutions hinder the effective management of national watersheds due to
conflicting interests, duplication of functions and evasion of
responsibilities. Currently,
juridical instruments pertaining to this area include the Forestry Law, the
Municipal Law, the Environmental Law, the Water Law, the Health Code and the
Agricultural Modernization Law. The
institutions in charge of conserving natural resources include the Honduran
Forestry Development Corporation, responsible for watershed management; the
Ministry of Environment, responsible for defining policies and granting
environmental licenses; and municipalities, responsible for in-field
watershed management. One example
cited was the conflict between the Forest Law and the Coffee Grower
Incentive Law that allows coffee to substitute forestlands even when they
are a protected watershed buffer. This
in turn allows the National Agrarian Institute to issue land titles to
coffee growers. As a result of the seminar, the
following recommendations were made: creation of short- and long-term
management plans for the protection of watersheds, institutional
strengthening of the National Watershed Network and privatization of
technical assistance. --El Heraldo Open
Skies goes into effect The open skies policy included in
Congressional Decree 23-2000 approved on March 21, allowing for unrestricted
international commercial air services in Honduras, went into effect last
June 20. Although international carriers are
confronted by certain barriers, such as high costs for airport use, fuel and
taxes, the new law completely deregulates air travel as well as air fares
and should ultimately translate into lower costs for consumers. --
El Heraldo Textile
industry to diversify Free trade zone
industries, traditionally identified as clothing assemblers, will begin
diversifying activities this year to include the production of cloth,
thread, cardboard boxes, labels and other raw materials used in
manufacturing. By expanding
production lines, this sector will be in better position to compete in
international markets as well as participate in free trade agreements more
effectively. Although the textile industry replaced coffee last year as the most important economic activity in Honduras, inclusion in the Caribbean Basin Initiative will permit this sector to generate US$650 million this year alone and, according to Honduran Maquila Association statistics, free trade zone production has grown 3,125 percent since the first maquila opened in 1988. -- El Heraldo Banco del Comercio, IDB to assist micro-enterprise For the first
time in Central America, a commercial bank, the Honduran Banco del Comercio,
signed an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to
finance technical assistance for small- and micro-enterprises. IDB contributed
US$270,000 (Lps. 4 million) and the local counterpart US$176,000 (Lps. 2.6
million) toward the development of more efficient technology and new credit
products or services in favor of small businesses. --
El Heraldo |
|
|
|||||||
