The statutory skeleton begins with the Foreign Investment Law (Decree 9-98, 1998), which grants national treatment, protection against expropriation, free repatriation and access to arbitration. Export incentives rest on Decree 29-89 (maquila) and Decree 65-89 (free zones), both from 1989, cut back by Decree 19-2016 and partly reopened by Decree 6-2021; to these are added ZOLIC (Decree 22-73) and the ZDEEP (Decree 30-2008). Infrastructure is governed by the Partnerships Law (16-2010) and the Priority Road Infrastructure Law (29-2024). On corporate and tax matters: the Commercial Code (Decree 2-70), the Entrepreneurship Strengthening Law (20-2018), the Leasing Law (2-2021), the Insolvency Law (8-2022) and the Tax Update Law (10-2012). The map is completed by the Arbitration Law (67-95), the sectoral laws on electricity (93-96), telecommunications (94-96), mining (48-97) and renewables (52-2003), those on intellectual property (57-2000 and 33-98) and the Labor Code (Decree 1441, 1961).
Which laws govern foreign investment in Guatemala?
According to the cited documentsLegal framework
Sources
SICE/OEA Texto Decreto 9-98
SICE/OEA Texto Decreto 29-89
MINECO Texto Ley de Zonas Francas, Decreto 65-89
Organismo Judicial Texto Código de Comercio
SAT Texto Decreto 10-2012, Ley de Actualización Tributaria
Texto oficial Código de Trabajo Decreto 1441
