Vice President Kamala Harris announced more than $1.9 billion in new private sector commitments to create economic opportunity in northern Central America.
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The following 10 companies and organizations announced major new commitments:
Agroamerica
Agroamerica, a family-owned sustainable food and ingredients corporation, will invest more than $100 million in six new projects that will generate 1,000 permanent, living-wage jobs in northern Central America over the next 5 years.
Future projects include a food ingredients refinery, a 600-hectares banana plantation, a large avocado plantation and processing plant, and the expansion of a Natural Ingredients Processing Plant.
Agroamerica expects to drastically reduce food waste in the region while presenting an innovative business line for small and independent producers of raw ingredients and tropical fruits produced in Central America.
COATL
COATL, a digital service firm, will invest $35 million in El Salvador to expand rural access to high-speed internet over the next 5 years by expanding and operating a highly reliable rural broadband network over existing high-power electricity lines.
This work will allow equal access to a digital ecosystem in rural areas, enabling online education, financial inclusion, and e-services.
Fundación Terra
Fundación Terra, an independent foundation funded by contributions from Terra Inversiones, which works in the energy, petroleum, retail, and real-estate sectors, will invest $24.5 million in new programs over 5 years.
These programs will support secondary education, digital access, entrepreneurship, and environmental conservation, including scholarships to tutor 40,000 students in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in Math and Spanish, which will promote financial inclusion.
Gap
Gap Inc. is committed to sourcing in Central America, and their current production in Central America supports an estimated 8,200 manufacturing jobs in the region held primarily by women.
Gap Inc. plans to increase its sourcing in Central America by approximately $50 million per year, for a total growth commitment of $150 million by 2025, as part of its strategy to increase supply chain resilience by nearshoring more production to the Western Hemisphere.
These increased purchases from the region will support an estimated 5,000 additional jobs in Central America.
Millicom
Millicom, a telecommunications company, will invest $700 million to expand and maintain its mobile and broadband networks in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador over the next two years.
This investment will advance Millicom’s efforts to accelerate economic growth in the region via increased connectivity as penetration rates for broadband in these markets are well below regional averages.
In addition, Millicom’s investments will be made in line with the Race to Zero, the UN-backed campaign aimed at promoting a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon recovery.
Pantaleon
Pantaleon, a conglomerate including investments in agroindustry and real-estate, will invest $9.4 million to fund the initial phase of a 1,200-acre industrial park on Guatemala´s Southern Coast. Once completed, the park is expected to house a mix of manufacturing, logistics, and distribution businesses, among others.
SanMar
SanMar, a U.S.-based apparel wholesaler, will increase its purchases of products manufactured in northern Central America by $500 million by 2025. These purchases will support the supply of products to SanMar’s over 60,000 customers, the overwhelming majority of which are American small businesses engaged in domestic light manufacturing.
The increased capacity required for this growth will lead to the creation of 4,000 additional full-time jobs at Elcatex, a Honduras-based apparel manufacturer owned in part by SanMar.
Unifi
Unifi, a company that produces recycled and synthetic yarns, established its manufacturing and sales operation in El Salvador (Unifi Central America) in 2010 and has been invested in El Salvador and the region since then. Unifi is making significant investments in the footprint capacity and innovation of its El Salvadoran operation and has committed to investing $15 million over the next five years to expand capacity, improve efficiency, and reduce energy use.
The investment includes new innovative texturing technology that will increase the company’s polyester yarn production in El Salvador by 40% and support continuous training and job growth in the region.
Visa
Visa will invest more than $270 million over the next five years to expand financial inclusion and digital infrastructure, with the goal of adding 6.5 million people and 1 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into the formal financial system in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Visa will focus on helping the local financial sector deploy innovative payment technology, improving citizens’ financial capabilities while driving efficiencies in key areas of the economy including: agriculture, digital disbursement of government subsidies, and remittances, while also expanding financial education for citizens and SMEs, thus increasing acceptance of digital payments and bringing more people into the formal economy.
Yazaki
Yazaki North America, an automotive components producer, will invest an additional $110 million to hire over 14,000 new employees in Guatemala and El Salvador by the end of 2026.
This builds upon a recent announcement to invest $10 million in a new factory in Guatemala, which is scheduled to start production with its first 1,000 employees in January 2023. Yazaki NA provides electrical wire harnesses for General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, and other global automakers. ■