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Belize (top)
The tourism industry, which is already a major source of foreign currency, has great potential, though it needs investment and better planning.
Costa Rica (top)
In 2005, the US Congress approved establishment of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). CAFTA confers benefits providing disciplines for the non-discriminatory treatment of investors, dispute resolution, protection of intellectual property rights and other areas.
Oil is supplied primarily by Mexico and Venezuela under the auspices of the San Jose Pact and the Caracas Energy Accord.
Dominican Republic (top)
In 2005, the US Congress approved the establishment of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) which includes the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic is one of the main centers of clothing “assembly for export”, or maquiladoras, and depends mainly on the US market for sales of both clothing and textiles. Clothing producers have suffered greatly from Asian competition and termination of the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA).
The island is the US's seventh largest export market in the Western Hemisphere and a major destination for US foreign direct investments.
El Salvador (top)
El Salvador is Central America's largest producer and consumer of geothermal energy.
The country is participating in the Puebla-Panama project. The goal of this initiative is to unify the electricity grids of Central American countries to reduce costs and the frequency of power disruptions, as well as to attract private sector investment.
Guatemala (top)
Both the US Congress and the Guatemalan government ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2005 and Guatemala has concluded a free-trade agreement with Mexico.
The country is participating in the Puebla-Panama project. The goal of this initiative is to unify the electricity grids of Central America to reduce costs and the frequency of power disruptions, as well as to attract private sector investment for the development of new power plants.
Honduras (top)
The Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) between the USA and Honduras took effect in 2006. The country also has free-trade agreements with Panama, Central America, Colombia and Taiwan. In 2008, the country joined Petrocaribe and the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, two programs organized by Venezuela.
Nicaragua (top)
In April 2006, the government signed the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) with the USA. The DR-CAFTA should improve access to the US market.
Panama (top)
Exports of domestically-produced goods have increased, thanks to higher sales of products such as flour and fish oil, shrimp larvae, coffee and sugar. Domestic crops include rice, maize, potatoes, beans and beef. The fishing industry is another major source of foreign exchange revenues, as Panama is the world's third biggest shrimp exporter.
The service sector accounts for nearly 80% of GDP. Services include the Panama Canal, container port activities, shipping, ship registry, insurance, wholesaling and distribution out of the Colon Free Zone, and government activities (which represents about 14% of GDP).
Panama is a financial and communications hub that sits at the crossroads of five international fibre-optic networks and hosts 110 international banks.
Panama is the largest energy consumer in Central America. With no proven oil, natural gas or coal reserves, the country is required to import all of its hydrocarbon needs.
Euromonitor International
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