Investment Policy Review of Guatemala

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Investment Policy Review of Guatemala UNCTAD UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT The Investment Policy Review of Guatemala is the latest in a series of investment policy reviews undertaken by UNCTAD at the request of countries interested in improving their investment framework and climate. The countries included in this series are: Egypt (1999) INVESTMENT POLICY REVIEW Uzbekistan (1999) Uganda (2000) Peru (2000) GUATEMALA Mauritius (2001) Ecuador (2001) Ethiopia (2002) INVESTMENT POLICY REVIEW GUATEMALA Tanzania (2002) Botswana (2003) Ghana (2003) Lesotho (2003) Nepal (2003) Sri Lanka (2004) Algeria (2004) Benin (2005) Kenya (2005) Colombia (2006) Rwanda (2006) Zambia (2007) Morocco (2008) Viet Nam (2008) Dominican Republic (2009) Nigeria (2009) Mauritania (2009) Burkina Faso (2009) Belarus (2009) Burundi (2010) Sierra Leone (2010) El Salvador (2010) Visit the website on IPRs www.unctad.org/ipr UNITED NATIONS USD 30 ISBN 978-92-1-112816-1 Printed at United Nations, Geneva UNITED NATIONS GE.11.50498–April 2011–2,190 UNCTAD/DIAE/PCB/2010/9 United Nations publication Sales No E.11.II.D.10 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Investment Policy Review of Guatemala UNITED NATIONS New York and Geneva 2011 Investment Policy Review of Guatemala NOTE UNCTAD serves as the focal point in the United Nations Secretariat within its mandate on trade and development for all matters related to foreign direct investment, as part of its work on trade and development. This function was formerly performed by the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) (1975–1992). UNCTAD’s work is carried out through intergovernmental deliberations, research and analysis, technical assistance activities, seminars, workshops and conferences. The term “country” as used in this study also refers, as appropriate, to territories or areas; the designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. In addition, the designations of country groups are intended solely for statistical or analytical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage of development reached by a particular country or area in the development process. The following symbols have been used in the tables: Two dots (..) indicate that data are not available or not separately reported. Rows in tables have been omitted in those cases where no data are available for any of the elements in the row. A hyphen (-) indicates that the item is equal to zero or its value is negligible. A blank in a table indicates that the item is not applicable. A slash (/) between dates representing years – for example, 2004/05 – indicates a financial year. Use of a dash (–) between dates representing years – for example, 2004–2005 – signifies the full period involved, including the beginning and end years. Reference to “dollars” ($) means United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated. Annual rates of growth or change, unless otherwise stated, refer to annual compound rates. Details and percentages in tables do not necessarily add to totals because of rounding. The material contained in this study may be freely quoted with appropriate acknowledgement. UNCTAD/DIAE/PCB/2010/9 UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. E.11.II.D.10 ISBN 978-92-1-112816-1 Copyright © United Nations, 2010 All rights reserved ii iii Investment Policy Review of Guatemala PREFACE The UNCTAD Investment Policy Reviews (IPRs) are intended to help countries improve their investment policies and to familiarize governments and the international private sector with an individual country’s investment environment. The reviews are considered by the UNCTAD Commission on Investment, Enterprise and Development. The recommendations of the IPR are then implemented with the technical assistance of UNCTAD. The support to beneficiary countries is delivered through a series of activities which can span over several years. The Investment Policy Review of Guatemala, initiated at the request of the Government of Guatemala, was carried out through a fact-finding mission in November 2009, and is based on information made available to UNCTAD until October 2010. The mission received the full cooperation of the relevant ministries and agencies, in particular the Ministry of Economy and Invest in Guatemala, the national investment promotion agency. The mission also benefited from the views of the private sector, foreign and domestic, bilateral donors and development agencies. A preliminary version of this report was discussed with stakeholders at a national workshop in Guatemala City on 27 September 2010. The final report reflects written comments from various ministries and agencies of the Government of Guatemala. The relevance and effectiveness of the regulatory regime is assessed against several related criteria: (a) whether the regulation adequately promotes and protects the public interest; (b) whether the regulation adequately promotes investment and sustainable socio-economic development; and (c) whether the policies employed are effective and well administered, given their public interest and development objectives and the legitimate concerns of investors that rules and procedures do not unduly burden their competitiveness. International benchmarks and best policy practices are taken into account in making the assessment and recommendations in this report. In addition to reviewing the investment framework, the report, following a specific request from the Government of Guatemala, elaborates on attracting FDI in electricity, road infrastructure and mining. The report was prepared by the Investment Policy Reviews Section under the supervision of Chantal Dupasquier. James Zhan, Director of the Investment and Enterprise Division provided overall guidance. The report was written by Rory Allan, Hans Baumgarten, Lizzie Medrano de Gamberale, Massimo Meloni and Antonio Moretti. Substantive contributions from Stephen Darrow, Quentin Dupriez and Anna Joubin-Bret are also acknowledged. The report benefited from comments and suggestions from UNCTAD colleagues under a peer review process. Irina Stanyukova provided research assistance and Jovan Licina provided production support. This report was co-funded by the Government of Guatemala and the Government of Sweden. It is hoped that the analysis and recommendations will contribute to improved policies, promote dialogue among stakeholders, catalyse investment and the beneficial impact of FDI and ultimately help Guatemala achieve its development objectives. Geneva, December 2010 ii iii v Investment Policy Review of Guatemala CONTENTS NOTE . ii PREFACE . iii ACRONYMS . ix INTRODUCTION . 1 I . FDI TRENDS AND IMPACT. 3 A. Historical trends . 3 1. Early stage of FDI (late 1800s – 1959) . 3 2. FDI during the Civil War (1960 – 1996). 4 3. FDI in the post-Civil War era (1997 – 2009). 6 4. Opportunities and challenges . 6 5. Comparative FDI trends. 7 B. FDI by country of origin and by sector. 10 1. Manufacturing . 10 2. Banking and finance. 12 3. Electricity. 13 4. Telecommunications. 14 5. Mining and oil. 15 6. Agriculture. 16 7. Transport infrastructure. 17 8. Other sectors . 17 C. Impact of FDI. 18 1. Capital and investment. 18 2. Employment and linkages . 19 3. Export diversification . 21 4. Transfer of skills and know-how. 23 5. Infrastructure services. 23 6. Land and social issues. 24 D. Overall assessment . 25 II . THE INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK. 27 A. Specific FDI Measures. 27 1. Entry and establishment. 28 2. Treatment and protection under the Investment Code . 28 3. The bilateral and regional investment treaties framework . 30 4. Institutional setting. 31 v Investment Policy Review of Guatemala B. General measures. 33 1. Company establishment . 33 2. Foreign exchange arrangements. 38 3. Taxation. 38 4. Labour. 44 5. Labour skills, employment and residence of non-citizens. 48 6. Land. 50 7. Governance. 53 8 Competition policy. 59 9. Environment. 61 10. Intellectual property protection. 64 C. Assessment . 65 III . ATTRACTING FDI IN ELECTRICITY, ROADS AND MINING . 67 A. Electricity. 67 1. Background and objectives. 67 2. Sector analysis. 75 3. Recommendations. 84 B. Roads. 88 1. Background and objectives. 88 2. Sector analysis. 91 3. Recommendations. 100 C. Mining. 102 1. Background and objectives. 102 2. Sector analysis. 103 3. Recommendations. 108 D. Implications for FDI promotion. 109 1. Energy. 110 2. Roads. 110 3. Mining. .111 IV . CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . .113 A. Improving the general investment framework. 113 1. The fiscal regime. 113 2. The institutional capacity of key government agencies. 114 3. Red tape and administrative efficiency. .115 vi vii Investment Policy Review of Guatemala B. Attracting FDI to priority sectors - electricity, mining and roads . 116 1. Policy development. 116 2. Participation of local communities. 117 3. Sector regulators. 117 4. Sectoral threats to competition and price distortions . 117 5. FDI promotion. 118 C. Summary of key recommendations. 118 ANNEX . IPRs - AN INTEGRATED ASSISTANCE APPROACH . 121 REFERENCES . 123 READERSHIP SURVEY . 134 TAbLES Table I.1. Comparative FDI flows in selected.
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