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Honduras Foreign Investment
With the exception of relatively recent,
Asian-dominated
investment in assembly firms along Honduras's northern
coast, the
country remains heavily dependent on United States-based
multinational corporations for most of its investment
needs in the
early 1990s. Overall investment as a percentage of GDP
declined
dramatically during the 1980s, from about 25 percent in
1980 to a
meager 15 percent in 1990. Dole Food Company and Chiquita
Brands
International together have invested heavily in Honduran
industries
as diverse as breweries and plastics, cement, soap, cans,
and
shoes.
As Honduras enters the 1990s, it faces challenging
economic
problems. The solutions relied on in the past--traditional
export
crops, the maquiladora assembly industry, and
1980s'
development schemes--appear unlikely to provide enough new
jobs for
a rapidly growing population. The major economic challenge
for
Honduras over the next decade will be to find dependable
sources of
sustainable economic growth.
* * *
In general, Honduras receives little scholarly
analysis.
Bibliographic sources for Honduras are mainly to be found
in books
about Central America, and, for the most past, Honduras is
allocated less coverage than its neighbors. The annual
Economic
and Social Progress in Latin America report of the
InterAmerican Development Bank is one of the most thorough
sources.
Banana Diplomacy: The Making of American Policy in
Nicaragua,
1981-87, by Roy Gutman, provides a good comprehensive
background for understanding the evolution and
complexities behind
Honduras's political and economic problems. Poverty,
Natural
Resources, and Public Policy in Central America, by
Sheldon
Annis and contributors, is a valuable analysis of possible
solutions to the many problems confronting the region.
Finally,
specialized regional newsletters, particularly Latin
American
Newsletters [London], Central America Report;
and
Business Latin America are important sources for
specific
economic information on all the countries of the region.
(For
further information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of December 1993
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