COMAYAGUA
In parallel with the rapid opening of Palmerola International Airport, the municipalities of the town of San Antonio and Comayagua are registering new companies and the interest of more domestic and foreign investors to establish themselves.
Near the civil air terminal, the inauguration is scheduled for October 15, they are building different wineries and gas stations. Meanwhile, within Comayagua has proliferated the registration of businesses linked to the tourism.
“This year we have seen that there are many interested parties and companies with German and Spanish capital and investors from our territory who are moving, and this fills us with a lot of satisfaction because it is a job they are carrying. It is a boom,” he said. refer Néstor Mendoza, mayor of the town of Sant Antoni.
The head of the building added that they are registering higher sales of land to establish industries and wineries. “There are already factories that are going to roll out their operations, like a toilet paper one. Other companies that are working on planting oriental vegetables for export are planning to ship them through the airport. It’s really already being seen. airport boom and the repercussions on job creation, ”he added.
Mendoza indicated that opportunities have been identified to simplify processes for investors to settle.
In the mayoralty of Comayagua The implementation of a one-stop shop that reduces the time that citizens and business people spend in routine procedures with the municipality has worked successfully.
This project supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has made it possible to establish a single point of contact between the citizen and the municipality for carrying out the procedures, without them having to travel through the different departments of the mayor’s office, according to the employers.
The initiative seeks to develop in more municipalities. According to a recent B surveyeven World Cup to Honduran businessmen, almost 60% of companies admit to having paid bribes to expedite some municipal procedure. Among SME companies the frequency of bribe payments is even higher; they report having canceled on average almost 1.5% of their bribe income to different national and municipal government entities.
The highest frequency of payment of bribes in municipal proceedings in Honduras is reported in obtaining building permits, notes the survey conducted by the multilateral.
“Modernization, administrative simplification, conditions of urbanity and municipal coexistence, mainly in the efficiency in the provision of public services, generation of productive jobs and to improve and stabilize the capacity of distribution of electrical energy are the areas to improve on the central plateau, ”noted economist David Carías Dávila.
more investments
Days ago, executives of Palmerola announced that Aeroméxico is the third international airline to confirm operations at the air terminal. The announcement, in the opinion of businessmen in the area, shows confidence in the valley of Comayagua and surroundings.
“This is the fruit we generate as a private company in the trust and investment climate, which in the end makes more companies establish themselves,” said Jesus Martinez, president of the Comayagua Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCICOM).
In past years, the union registered about 400 new companies a year, but as a result of the rapid opening of the airport of Palmerola the figure is around 600 businesses.
“This means they have signed up almost twice as much as they normally sign up and the trend will continue, because most people want to invest in Comayagua“Generating a boom in capital gains,” added Martinez.
In the municipality, most of the new investments are linked to construction and tourism, especially travel agencies that have already begun with the sale of air tickets for November and December via Palmerola.
“The expectations are high and we are confident that the project will work. We have an enviable geographical location and will generate a lot of traffic to the Amatillo. Here there is a synergy of work that occurs between municipal, local, departmental, trade and tourism and this generates us to have a better vision “, added the president of the Chamber of Commerce.
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In addition to the inauguration of Palmerola, in mid-October the International Air Transport Association will have an event in Comayagua. |
According to estimates of the National Chamber of Tourism of Honduras (Canaturh) of Comayagua, the valley has more than 4,000 hotel rooms. These will be joined by the luxury hotel planned to be built inside the airport, which will have around 240 rooms. It will soon be announced which international hotel chain it will be affiliated with.
The same air terminal will operate 10,000 square meters of commercial area, a themed restaurant, a gas station, banks and car rental companies, according to airport executives.