By Alyson Lewis

The Specialty Coffee of America Fair will have Honduras as the main sponsor, who ranks as the largest coffee producer in Central America. The event will take place from the 19th to 22nd or April in Portland Oregon, USA.

Victor Hugo Molina, manager of the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafe), said the country seize the opportunity to be the main sponsor for the fair to promote quality coffees and variety of its product. Molina said that this is the appropriate occasion for Honduras to seek the expansion of its coffee market and also enter the international market.

By Saaron Rose

After the signing of contracts by the company Panamanian Wind Union (PWU), will be built in Panama, the largest wind farm in Central America.

This project is considered the largest in Central America, with an investment of $ 440 million and will generate 120 megawatts, which means putting aside the dependence to fossil fuels like oil and natural gas, announced the General Manager of Electric Transmission Company (ETESA), Fernando Marciscano.

By Robert Damon

Walmart Mexico and Central America (WMC) allocated 19 thousand 740 million pesos in its expansion for 2012, up 7.5 percent higher on the investment in 2011, said the company's CEO, Scot Rank.

At a conference, the manager explained that 12 thousand 242 million pesos will be used in opening new stores, while the rest will go towards the refurbishment of existing units and other infrastructure such as operations centers.

By Lara Holmes

Just three percentage points below the regional average, we find the percentage of Costa Ricans who in 2011 bought on the Internet (56%), according to the online research company, Digital Trends.

Among the products purchased at the regional level include entertainment tickets or travel (30%), computer accessories (22%), clothing (22%) and books (16%).

By Lara Holmes

The roses are produced in nurseries in San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala and exported to celebrate Valentine´s Day are ready to be sent to El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico.

Red roses represent 30 percent of in-demand flowers to celebrate Valentine´s.

By Susana Lima

33 companies presented on Friday their technical and financial bids to participate in the auction to award the purchase of 800 megawatts (MW) of guaranteed power.

Deocsa, Deorsa and EEGSA distributors called the Generation Expansion Plan coordinated by the National Energy Commission (CNEE), these companies contract the supply of electricity for the period 2015 to 2030.

By Eliane Portillo

According to data from the Association of Latin American Brewers, Mexico is one of the countries with less consumption of alcoholic beverages per capita compared to the rest of Latin America.

With 4.62 liters on average, Mexico ranks eleventh in consumption in liters of pure alcohol among the 18 Latin American Nations referred to in the figures provided by the Association, based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

By Susana Lima

Guatemalan company Cementos Progreso, seeks to venture into the Honduran cement market which has been ruled by two industries only.

The hoarding of this market has led to charging excessive prices, so Francisco Zelaya, Minister of Industry and Trade, announced in December that the government will allow the entry of new cement companies.

By Eliane Portillo

Despite the critics and the debates over mining in Panama, work is going ahead on a massive copper project.

With the approval of its environmental impact study, Minera Panamá a unit of Canada's Inmet Mining is now getting ready to begin to build the mine.

The mine's reserves of 30 years make it one of the world¡s largest. Investment in development will come to some $4 billion, which makes it the biggest private-sector investment in Panama's history.

By Eliane Portillo

Four Central American countries have expressed interest in starting negotiations this year on a free trade agreement with the Republic of Korea.

Nicaragua and Panama have not yet confirmed an interest in participating in the project. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, however, consider that reduced barriers to trade would help various sectors do business with Korea, whose consumers have seen their purchasing power increase by close to 20% in the past four years.

For their part, Korean producers could expect to increase their market share in the region, where they are already strong, in areas which include automotive and consumer electronics.

By Susana Lima

The contract between the Home Office and Population and the U.S. Company Securiport, was approved last December by the Congress of Honduras to implement a security tax of $ 34, which will be divided into $ 17 going out and $ 17 going into the country  in the airline tickests.

The security service fee shall be paid by each passenger to fly in and out of Honduras, the airlines will have to deposit the proceeds of their aircraft to a special account.

According to Airports of Honduras info, more than 800,000 passengers travel through the country's four international airports each year.

By Eliane Portillo

Labor Minister Humberto Centeno said that 50,301 formal jobs were created in El Salvador last year, according to statistics from the Social Security Institute (ISSS).

Centeno said described the report as very positive, because the number of new jobs exceed those created in 2008, when the serious global crisis started in the United States.

Centeno told the program Agenda Nacional on the state-owned National Radio and Television, that the ISSS reported that 38,637 formal jobs were lost in 2009.

Centeno added that in 2010, 31,302 of these jobs were recovered in a process of economic recovery in the nation, which Gross Domestic Product (GDP) plunged to minus 3.1 percent in 2009.

In 2011, we had more jobs than in 2008. This is a parameter for the population to have confidence that the country is slowly emerging from the crisis, said Centeno.

He pointed out that at the end of last year, the unemployment rate in El Salvador was 7.3 percent, a rate that he described as relatively low compared to other countries in the region.

By Susana Lima

The Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport) said in a statement that 650 small and medium Guatemala exporting companies closed businesses for 101,000 million dollars this year.

Businesses were concluded thanks to the involvement of companies in five national shows, seven international exhibitions and five trade missions organized by Agexport.

By Eliane Portillo

In November, the Nissan plant in Aguascalientes and Volkswagen in Puebla were ranked as the two most productive factories in North America, according to data from Automotive News Data Center.

Nissan will close 2011 with the production of more than 600,000 units in the country, the largest production volume in its history.

By Eliane Portillo

The Panamanian Workers Trade Union Confederation (CGT) rejected Monday a proposal for increasing the minimum wage by 10 percent formulated by the entrepreneurs, and negotiations are once more at a standstill.

Both parties are now working against the clock, since the last day to present a consensus agreement to the Executive will be Tuesday, December 20.

By Eliane Portillo

The Nicaraguan government's policy to diversify markets for national exports has increased in Russia and China, according to the latest report issued by the agency specialized in the matter.

According to the Office for Exports in the case of Russia, the annual increase amounted to 263 percent until the end of November, while sales to China were up 166 percentage points compared to 2010.

By Susana Lima

These two multinational sportswear companies will move its operations from Honduras to Nicaragua, because wages are cheaper in this country, so that thousands of factory workers remain unemployed.

Daniel Facusse, president of the Honduran Association of Maquiladoras (AHM), said that with the departure of these companies about 10 thousand jobs in the sector will be lost.

By Susana Lima

The governments of Peru and Guatemala will sign the free trade agreement (FTA) on December 6th in Guatemala City in order to strengthen exchanges between both countries.

Luis Velasquez, Guatemalan Economy Minister, said the agreement will be signed between the president of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom and Jose Luis Silva, Minister of Trade and Tourism of Peru.

By Eliane Portillo

The governments of Mexico and five Central American countries signed in El Salvador a free trade agreement (FTA) that unifies the existing ties in one body.

The agreement was penned by the Economy ministers of the six nations in the presence of Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinoza and Salvadorian Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez.