In depth
In depth: analysis and context on Guatemala.
Analysis and context on Guatemala, organized by sector, topic and indicator — every piece with its figures, its sources and the date they were consulted. None of it has entered the verified archive yet.
All research
894 of 894 researched topics · 26 dossiers · 2,332 Sources · 539 Audited
The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.
Institutions and investment promotion
- Institutional map of investment promotion in Guatemala
- MINECO as investment policy lead and its minister
- Priority markets of the FDI Strategy and the 'Ruta del Chip'
- Investment and jobs projected by the National FDI Strategy
- Digital single windows for company registration, building and trade
- The Foreign Investment Law (Decreto 9-98) and national treatment
- PRONACOM: creation, reforms and its governing policy
- PRONACOM's free investor services and reported results
- Pro Guatemala: origin, 2024 creation and contact
- The Single Window for Investments (VUI) and the Investor Room
- The PPP framework (Decreto 16-2010) and ANADIE
- Approved PPPs and the project pipeline
- The 2025 PPP reform and the creation of the ANI
- ZOLIC and the Santo Tomás de Castilla free zone
- The ZDEEP zones and their founding decree (Decreto 30-2008)
- The ZDEEP network: zone count, jobs and Michatoya Pacífico
- Tax benefits of the ZDEEP regime
- Invest Guatemala: leadership, services and priority sectors
- AGEXPORT: profile, presidency and contact
- AGEXPORT's export target for 2035
- CACIF, the business umbrella, and its 2026-2027 presidency
- The Chamber of Industry of Guatemala: leadership and agenda
- The Chamber of Commerce of Guatemala and its member services
- AmCham Guatemala: leadership and economic outlook
- ASCABI and the binational chambers of commerce in Guatemala
- FUNDESA and its role in attracting investment
- 'Guatemala No Se Detiene': origin, backers and priority sectors
- Targets and time horizons of 'Guatemala No Se Detiene'
- Synergy Industrial Park: location and developers
- Synergy Industrial Park's tenant offer and tax regimes
- 'ASA Promotions' in Guatemala: a negative finding
- Municipal single windows in Guatemala City and Villa Nueva
- Key laws and decrees framing investment in Guatemala
- Institutional facts still awaiting confirmation
- Proposed indicators for tracking investment institutions
The legal framework for foreign investment
- Laws governing foreign investment in Guatemala
- Decree 9-98 guarantees for foreign investors
- Expropriation of foreign investments and its limits
- Tax benefits under Decree 29-89 (Maquila Law)
- The Decree 19-2016 cutback of incentives
- Exemptions under the Free Zones Law (Decree 65-89)
- Free-zone activities reopened by Decree 6-2021
- ZOLIC and the ZDEEP zones: regime and benefits
- Public-private partnerships: Decree 16-2010 and ANADIE
- The Priority Road Infrastructure Law (Decree 29-2024)
- Minimum capital to incorporate a Sociedad Anónima
- The Sociedad de Emprendimiento (Decree 20-2018) and its limits
- The Leasing Law (Decree 2-2021) and its scope
- The Insolvency Law (Decree 8-2022) and its implementation
- ISR and VAT rates for non-incentivized companies
- Protection of trademarks, patents and copyright
- Membership in Paris, Berne, the PCT and the Madrid Protocol
- Labor framework applicable to foreign employers
- Employer payroll contributions (IGSS, IRTRA, INTECAP)
- Mandatory payments: aguinaldo, Bono 14 and incentive bonus
- The cost of dismissal without just cause
- Private electricity generation and its regulation
- Tax incentives for renewables (Decree 52-2003)
- Mining royalties and the sector's regulatory risk
- Obtaining and transferring telecom spectrum
- Recognition of foreign arbitral awards
- Guatemala and ICSID: membership and conditions
- Treaties protecting investors: CAFTA-DR and BITs
- The RDC (Ferrovías) case against Guatemala
- The two Iberdrola cases against Guatemala and their outcome
- Amounts paid in the TECO (EEGSA) case
- The ruling in IC Power v. Guatemala (Energuate)
- The Kappes ICSID case: mining and prior consultation
- Status of the Grupo Energía Bogotá / TRECSA claim
- Guatemala's investor-state arbitration track record
- Access to Public Information Act: an answer within ten days (art. 42, Decreto 57-2008)
Taxes and incentives
- The 25% corporate income tax under the profits regime
- Simplified Optional Income Regime (5% / 7%)
- Income tax regime election, changes and the territorial principle
- Rates on capital income and capital gains
- Employee income tax: brackets and deductions
- Withholding taxes on non-residents without a permanent establishment
- Dividend taxation and the repealed stamp tax
- The VAT rate and its filing mechanics
- VAT on exports and exempt transactions
- The Small Taxpayer Regime and its sales ceiling
- Real-estate sales: VAT versus stamp tax
- The Solidarity Tax (ISO): rate and computation base
- ISO taxpayers and crediting it against income tax
- ISO exemptions and newly formed companies
- ISO under the simplified regime, Decree 29-89 and free zones
- The DAI import duty, its range and import VAT
- Average applied tariff according to the WTO
- IPRIMA and the first registration of imported vehicles
- The IUSI property tax: rates and calculation
- Stamp tax rate and what it applies to
- Employer and employee contributions to IGSS, IRTRA and INTECAP
- The Bono 14 and the aguinaldo: amounts and payment dates
- The Q250 incentive bonus and IGSS
- Vacation days and severance for unjustified dismissal
- Total labor burden: the employer's true cost per Q100 of salary
- Benefits and scope of Decree 29-89 (Maquila Law)
- Decree 19-2016 changes to export incentives
- Free-zone exemptions and their duration
- Free-zone rules: reforms, regulation 242-90 and user types
- ZOLIC and the ZDEEP zones: status and tax benefits
- Double-taxation treaties and treaty withholding relief
- Transfer-pricing obligations with a foreign parent
- Electronic invoicing (FEL): mandate and requirements
- Tax figures still unverified or uninvestigated
- Sources for tax collection, tax burden and fiscal series
- Tax limitation period: four years (eight if unregistered)
- Compensatory interest and the late-payment penalty (0.0005 per day)
- Formal-duty fines (art. 94 of the Tax Code)
- Smuggling and customs fraud: the $CA 3,000 / 3 % FOB threshold and 7–10 years' prison
- Tax depreciation: lower rates allowed by the ISR regulation (art. 24, AG 213-2013)
- Tax depreciation: maximum annual percentages under art. 28 (Decreto 10-2012)
- Business income tax: 25 % on profits or 5 %/7 % on gross income (arts. 36 and 44)
- Income tax on non-residents: 5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 25 % by type of income (art. 104)
- VAT withholding: 65 % / 15 % (exporters), 25 % (public sector), 15 % (card operators and special taxpayers) — Decreto 20-2006
- ISO (Decreto 73-2008): 1 % on the greater of one quarter of net assets and one quarter of gross income
Workforce, education and talent
- Labour force magnitudes: working-age, active, employed, unemployed
- The labour force by sex: men and women
- Indigenous peoples' share of the working-age and active population
- Participation, unemployment, underemployment and informality rates 2024–2025
- Average monthly labour income and the urban-rural gap
- Informality and unemployment by territorial domain and sex
- Sectoral structure of employment: agriculture, manufacturing, services
- Dominant occupations and the share of wage employees
- Educational attainment of Guatemala's population
- Labour force evolution 2021–2024 and World Bank estimates
- Total population and pace of demographic growth
- Guatemala's median age and demographic dividend
- Guatemala's adult literacy rate
- Average years of schooling and the Central American comparison
- Secondary and tertiary enrolment and upper-secondary graduates
- Student enrolment at the University of San Carlos (USAC)
- Private university enrolment: Landívar, UVG, Galileo and UFM
- University programmes in engineering and technology
- People trained by INTECAP each year
- INTECAP's training offer and funding model
- Guatemala's English level in the EF EPI 2025
- English by job function: sales, operations, IT and customer service
- English proficiency by department and city (EF EPI 2025)
- BPO hiring profile and the Finishing School programme
- Public English scholarships under Guatemala No Se Detiene
- Jobs and economic weight of the contact center and BPO sector
- BPO sector service exports and how they are measured
- BPO expansion into secondary cities and the verticals it serves
- Software developers in Guatemala: the GitHub proxy
- Bilingual call center agent salaries
- Wage costs for production workers, technicians and industrial engineers
- Legal day, night and mixed shifts and weekly hours
- Overtime pay and running plants 24/7
- Payroll contributions: IGSS, INTECAP and IRTRA
- Mandatory benefits: aguinaldo, Bono 14, incentive bonus and vacation
- Average labour income per employee job, by activity (Banguat employment matrix 2024, derived)
Energy, water and telecommunications
- Power sector regulation under General Electricity Law 93-96
- Wholesale price formation (POE) and dollar settlement
- Wholesale market participants, from generators to large users
- 2025 electricity generation mix and renewable share
- 2025 SNI production, consumption and average spot price
- 2025 record peak demand and consumption by segment
- Power generation in 2024, the dry reference year
- Generation seasonality and industrial operating risk
- CNEE tariff-setting mechanism and extra charges on the bill
- Regulated EEGSA, DEOCSA and DEORSA tariffs and the social tariff
- Industrial demand-based tariffs at low and medium voltage
- Gran Usuario status and buying power outside the regulated tariff
- PPA contract types and firm-capacity backing obligations
- PEG-4-2022 tender awards and prices
- The PEG-5-2025 tender and its terms of reference
- PEG-5 bids, MW submitted and process timeline
- PEG-5 award outcome: projects, MW and price
- Transmission expansion plans and tenders (PET) and built works
- Transmission tolls: who sets them and ETCEE's charge
- EEGSA's ownership and service area
- Energuate (DEOCSA and DEORSA) ownership and customer base
- National electricity coverage and rural electrification investment
- Renewable energy tax incentives under Decree 52-2003
- Self-generation and installed distributed renewable generation (GDR)
- Grid reliability and SAIDI/SAIFI outage indices
- Industrial water and private wells in a country with no water law
- Water law initiative 6816 and its status in Congress
- Wastewater discharges under Government Accord 236-2006
- Telecom operators and the SIT as sector regulator
- 700 MHz and 2.5 GHz spectrum auctions and 5G coverage
- Submarine cables and their landing points in Guatemala
- Data centers and industrial connectivity costs
- Internet penetration and connection speeds
- SNI installed capacity and wholesale market unit charges
- Official energy, tariff, telecom and water-law data series
- Decreto 11-2026: temporary support of Q 8 per gallon of diesel and Q 5 per gallon of gasoline, three months, Q 2,000 million
- Generation mix by technology, 2026 months (AMM monthly market analysis, text)
Infrastructure and logistics
- Guatemala's port system and its share of foreign trade
- Port cargo handled in 2024 and its composition
- Containers handled in 2024
- Annual ship calls and their split between ports
- TEU handled in 2025 and their breakdown by type and flow
- Guatemala's Central American ranking in container traffic
- Legal framework for port concessions and private terminals
- Puerto Quetzal's pier capacity and its draft and congestion limits
- Puerto Quetzal's cranes and Yilport's role
- Puerto Quetzal pier expansion project
- The TCQ case and APM Terminals' arrival at Puerto Quetzal
- Legal status of the APM Terminals Quetzal contract and the transition
- Capacity and throughput of the APM Terminals Quetzal terminal
- Containers and finances at Santo Tomás de Castilla
- Draft and overload at Santo Tomás de Castilla
- Modernisation works at Santo Tomás de Castilla
- Future plans for Santo Tomás and shipping-line surcharges
- Puerto Barrios' operator and its terminal capacity
- Passenger traffic at La Aurora international airport
- Modernisation investments at La Aurora and the runway's condition
- Air cargo at La Aurora and its warehouse operator
- Petén's airport and its passenger traffic
- Decree 29-2024 and the CIV's road project portfolio
- Widening of the CA-9 North highway to the Atlantic ports
- Management and tolling of the Palín–Escuintla highway
- The 'dry canal' or Interoceanic Corridor and its progress
- The Guatemala–Honduras customs union and the FYDUCA
- Main land border crossings and their wait times
- Rail freight: network control and projects
- RDC's railway arbitration against Guatemala (CAFTA)
- Guatemala in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index
- Customs clearance times and the SAT's modernisation
- The Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme and its certifications
- Export document processing: VUPE, SEADEX, DUCA and DEPREX
- Sea freight costs and times, and official logistics statistics
- Export Time Release Study (SAT, 2nd edition): from 2 days 5 h at Santo Tomás de Castilla to 5 days 19 h at Puerto Quetzal's container terminal
- Import release times: results of the 2020–2023 National Action Plan (SAT, to October 2023)
- 2020–2023 National Action Plan: measures by port (Tecún Umán II, Santo Tomás, Puerto Quetzal, APM Terminals, COMBEX-IM)
- Containers by port 2016–2023: verified CPN TEU (table C-8)
Free zones, ZDEEP and industrial parks
- Zones and parks for locating a factory or warehouse
- The Free Zones Law (Decree 65-89) and its authorization
- Decree 6-2021 changes to the free zone regime
- ZOLIC and its founding law (Decree 22-73)
- ZDEEPs: authorization and enablement under Decree 30-2008
- The maquila regime (Decree 29-89) outside zones and ZDEEPs
- Tax incentives: free zone versus ZDEEP
- Free zones in operation: companies and jobs
- Guatemala's free zones and their locations
- Parque Zeta La Unión in Amatitlán: offering and costs
- ZOLIC facilities and contact at Santo Tomás de Castilla
- Count of existing and operating ZDEEPs
- The Puerta del Istmo ZDEEP: investment and jobs
- Michatoya Pacífico as a ZDEEP: companies and investment
- Zona Libre Quetzal and its proximity to Puerto Quetzal
- The single-user ZDEEPs Puma 1 and Miel Verde
- The NUMA A-1 and Santander ZDEEPs
- ZDEEPs by department and unidentified zones
- Michatoya Pacífico: buildings, land, location and delivery dates
- Korean investment and jobs at Michatoya Pacífico
- Parque Industrial Unisur in Villa Nueva and its operators
- The offering of Parque Industrial La Ceiba in Amatitlán
- Tecnopark in Escuintla and its warehouse park
- Multinova by Grupo Rosul: class A warehouses for rent
- InnovaPark by ÍNTEGRO and its building types
- CAES park and metro office-warehouse developers
- The warehouse guild and industrial park directories
- Warehouse prices on the Atlantic highway (CA-9 North)
- Guatemala City office market: inventory, vacancy and rent
- Office rents in zones 10, 13 and 14 and AAA vacancy
- Prime office corridors and the Zona Pradera complex
- INE's IPMC: the construction materials price index
- Cost per square meter of building an industrial warehouse
- Information gaps on zones, ZDEEPs and parks
- Series and indicators for zones, offices and construction
- The ZDEEPs per ZOLIC's own lists (captured 2 September 2026)
- ZOLIC's 20 ZDEEP (2026-09-02 capture): 7 operating, 10 authorised, 3 in process
Sectors and investment opportunities
- Guatemala's total 2025 exports and their markets
- Apparel and textile exports
- Jobs and companies in the apparel and textile sector
- Apparel sector risks: tariffs, infrastructure and labor scrutiny
- The full-package model and investment in spinning and fabrics
- Dominant fibers in apparel: cotton vs synthetics
- CAFTA-DR, the yarn-forward rule and the US reciprocal tariff
- Buyer brands and producer groups of Guatemalan apparel
- Garment labor cost versus Bangladesh and Vietnam
- Location of garment factories and maquilas
- Local versus imported textile inputs
- Size of the call center and BPO sector
- BPO and call center companies operating in Guatemala
- Call center incentives and the bilingual talent bottleneck
- Coffee: exports, destinations and producing families
- Cardamom: volume, prices, destinations and risks
- Sugar production and exports
- The sugar industry: mills, Asazgua and Expogranel
- Banana exports and Guatemala's world ranking
- Palm oil: production, exports and sector risks
- The opportunity in Hass avocado and berries
- Food and beverage conglomerates and entry routes
- Yazaki in Guatemala and its operating regime
- Cement producers and installed capacity
- Tourism: visitors, foreign exchange and INGUAT's targets
- Mining legal framework, royalties and investment viability
- Status of Pan American Silver's Escobal mine
- The Cerro Blanco mining project in Jutiapa
- The Fénix nickel mine in El Estor, Izabal
- The PEG-5 power tender and its awards
- Renewable generation and the electricity spot price
- Tax incentives: Decrees 29-89, 65-89 and ZDEEP
- Sector data still pending confirmation
- Official sector series: exports, tourism, energy, mining and FDI
- Palm oil: production and exports 2015–2023, destinations and economic footprint (GREPALMA)
Trade agreements and market access
- Guatemala's WTO membership and tariff binding coverage
- Guatemala's network of free trade agreements in force
- CAFTA-DR's entry into force and parties for Guatemala
- Guatemala's trade with CAFTA-DR partners 20 years on
- The yarn-forward rule for textiles and apparel under CAFTA-DR
- Exceptions to yarn-forward: short supply, wool and TPL
- Timeline of the EU–Central America Association Agreement
- Tariff access and bilateral trade with the European Union
- Guatemala's main exports to the European Union
- The EU sugar quota and its utilization
- Other export quotas into the EU: rum, tuna, beef and more
- Import quotas from the EU: cheese, dairy and pork
- Entry into force of the Central America–Mexico FTA for Guatemala
- Tariff elimination and quotas under the Mexico FTA
- Products excluded from the Central America–Mexico FTA
- Guatemala's trade and balance with Mexico
- The CIRI and the Mexico FTA Administrative Commission's decisions
- The Chile FTA: entry into force and coverage for Guatemala
- The Colombia–Northern Triangle FTA and its status
- FTAs with Panama and the Dominican Republic
- The Guatemala–Taiwan FTA and its sugar quota
- The Guatemala–Peru FTA in force since July 1, 2026
- Opportunities from the Peru FTA for Guatemalan exporters
- The South Korea FTA: ratified, not yet in force
- The Guatemala–Israel FTA in force since March 2024
- The UK continuity agreement after Brexit
- Partial-scope agreements: Belize, Cuba, Ecuador and Venezuela
- Unsettled status of EFTA, Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM ties
- The Guatemala–Honduras customs union and Central American integration
- Guatemala's average import tariff
- Duty-free tariff lines, quotas and safeguards
- Tariff peaks on imports into Guatemala
- Guatemala's annual goods imports
- Guatemala's export markets and the tariffs it faces
- Canada, the no-FTA exception in the agreement network
- Sources for trade statistics by partner and product
- Guatemala's case for nearshoring
- Unverified facts about Guatemala's trade agreements
- Revised Kyoto Convention (WCO): Guatemala's accession on 10 March 2022
Macroeconomy, ratings and risk
- Guatemala's current sovereign credit rating
- Moody's latest review of Guatemala (2026)
- S&P's rating upgrade and its rationale
- Fitch's rating and its trajectory
- What Guatemala needs to reach investment grade
- Rating compared with Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and Paraguay
- Public debt as a share of GDP
- Total public debt stock and its domestic-external split
- Guatemala's fiscal deficit
- Tax burden and state revenue collection
- Banco de Guatemala's leading policy interest rate
- Guatemala's inflation rate
- Quetzal stability and the exchange rate against the dollar
- International reserves and import coverage
- Remittance inflows and their share of GDP
- The risk of remittance dependence
- Guatemala's nominal GDP and GDP per capita
- Guatemala's population living in poverty
- Chronic child malnutrition (stunting) in Guatemala
- Labor force participation of men and women
- Guatemala on the Corruption Perceptions Index
- CICIG and the reasons for its end
- The attorney general and the Consuelo Porras case
- Guatemala's score on the WJP Rule of Law Index
- Homicide rate and its evolution
- Discrepancies between sources in homicide figures
- Extortion as a risk to businesses
- Guatemala's president and the length of his term
- The 2027 elections and their political risk for investors
- The 2018 Volcán de Fuego eruption and its impact
- The impact of storms Eta and Iota
- Guatemala's seismic risk
- Guatemala on logistics and competitiveness indices
- Public investment in infrastructure
- Economic growth and institutional projections
- Guatemala's sovereign spread (EMBI)
- The IMF's 2025 Article IV consultation
- Macro and risk indicators tracked by the atlas
- Summary of macroeconomic and institutional investment risk
The record of foreign investment: real cases
- Guatemala's total FDI inflow in 2025
- Source countries of Guatemala's FDI (2025)
- United States investment in Guatemala
- Investment from Colombia, Mexico and Central America in Guatemala
- European and South Korean investment in Guatemala
- Sectors receiving Guatemala's FDI (2025)
- The financial sector's dominance of FDI (45.4%)
- Marginal FDI in mining and agriculture
- FDI projection for 2026 and recent growth
- Yazaki's Ayutla plant and its start-up
- Yazaki's investment plan and the ZDEEP regime
- Yazaki's second plant in Pajapita, San Marcos
- Millicom's purchase of Tigo Guatemala (2021)
- Financing and advisers in the Tigo Guatemala purchase
- Telefónica's exit and the América Móvil purchase
- The Escobal mine: location, history and output
- The Escobal mine's suspension since 2017
- Stages of the Xinka consultation on Escobal
- Pan American Silver's Tahoe purchase and Escobal's reserves
- The EXMIBAL/Inco background of the Fénix mine in El Estor
- Solway, CGN and ProNiCo: the Fénix mine's operator
- OFAC sanctions on Guatemalan nickel (2022)
- CGN and ProNiCo's removal from the OFAC SDN list
- The TCQ case at the Quetzal container terminal
- APM Terminals' arrival at Puerto Quetzal
- Walmart's entry into Guatemala and its store formats
- Nestlé's investments in Guatemala
- Fogel's US$50 million expansion in Villa Canales
- Cervecería Centro Americana, Gallo and AB InBev in the beer market
- The San Gabriel plant and the San Juan Sacatepéquez conflict
- Cementos Progreso's regional expansion and Cemex's exit
- Failed or exited foreign investments in Guatemala
- Cases pending research: PepsiCo/cbc, BPOs, ENEL and Colombian banks
- Official FDI series by country and economic activity
- Reliability and source classification in the case atlas
Paperwork, visas and the investor's life
- Time and cost to incorporate a company
- The Registro Mercantil and post-incorporation registrations
- Status of the minegocio.gt and asisehace.gt portals
- Construction license in Guatemala City and its cost
- The Ventanilla Ágil de Construcción (VAC) before the municipal license
- Environmental categories and instruments required by MARN
- The environmental license and MARN file management
- Importer registration with SAT and air cargo clearance
- Obligation to register the company and employees with IGSS
- Employer and employee IGSS contributions and total labor cost load
- The FEL electronic invoicing regime and its effective date
- Obtaining a NIT and registering in SAT's RTU
- General VAT rate in Guatemala
- Bank account opening for foreigners and bank requirements
- Anti-money-laundering controls on foreign-currency cash deposits
- Legal basis for foreign residency
- General documents for any residency application
- Investor residency: requirements and costs
- Migrant-worker residency with a Guatemalan or foreign employer
- Other temporary residencies: self-employed, student, artists and more
- Permanent residency as a rentista or pensioner and its cost
- Other routes to permanent residency: marriage, family and more
- The step-by-step residency process at the IGM
- Temporary residency limit, fee currency and IGM offices
- Cost and timeline of the work permit at MINTRAB
- Who pays for the work permit and its legal basis
- Guatemalan-staff quota and limits on foreign employees
- Free repatriation of profits and capital
- International schools in Guatemala City and tuition
- Private hospitals and health insurance in Guatemala City
- Rent and cost of living in Guatemala City
- Guatemala City zones where expatriates live
- Safety in Guatemala City and zones to avoid
- Direct flights from La Aurora to the United States and the region
- Guatemala's time zone and alignment with U.S. teams
Manual: opening a garment factory
- The eight steps to open an apparel factory
- Municipalities where apparel manufacturing concentrates today
- Chimaltenango and Sacatepéquez as plant locations
- Palín and the Michatoya Pacífico ZDEEP
- Industrial-park distances to Puerto Quetzal
- Wage savings from locating outside the department of Guatemala
- Legal vehicle and minimum capital for an S.A
- Mercantile Registry timelines, fees and FEL invoicing
- IGSS employer registration: threshold and deadline
- Decree 29-89 tax benefits for apparel
- Duration and extension of temporary admission under 29-89
- Filing venue, eligibility and file for 29-89 qualification
- MINECO's timeline to resolve a 29-89 qualification
- Annual 29-89 obligations and the public register of qualified firms
- Decree 29-89, free zone or ZDEEP: comparing the regimes
- Liztex, the local textile mill supplying fabric
- Guatemala's full-package capacity and its own spinning mills
- Local input share and the VESTEX supplier directory
- Duty-free Asian fabric versus duty-free access to the US
- 2026 minimum wage for maquila and export activity
- A sewing operator's true monthly cost, fully loaded
- Shifts, working hours and 24/7 operation under the Labor Code
- Real sizes of apparel plants in Guatemala
- The CAFTA-DR yarn-forward rule and the exports that qualify
- The 2025 US reciprocal tariff and Guatemalan-made apparel
- Buyers of Guatemalan apparel and sales through trading companies
- EEGSA and new power connections in the apparel corridor
- Buying power directly from generators as a Large User
- Water for the plant and industrial well permits
- MARN environmental license for an apparel factory
- The Koramsa case and the rise of Denimatrix
- Sae-A's announced US$400 million polyester complex
- The KOA Modas shutdown and its lessons for investors
- Grupo Karim's, "Winners" and "Textiles del Lago": unverified names
- Open gaps and proposed indicators in the factory manual
Water for industry
- Absence of a general water law and national extraction fee
- Right to drill a well and ownership of the water (Civil Code)
- Industrial self-supply and the 2,000 wells of Guatemala's valley
- Procedure to drill an industrial well in the metropolitan area
- Cost and regulation of the municipal well-drilling license
- MARN environmental license costs and categories
- Well-drilling restrictions in the Lake Atitlán basin (AMSCLAE)
- Well-drilling companies and per-foot drilling costs
- Metropolitan well depths and the falling water table
- Overexploitation of the Guatemala City aquifer: extraction vs recharge
- EMPAGUA supply versus demand, sources and bulk water
- EMPAGUA's water tariff and the industrial rate
- EMPAGUA feasibility for large plants and regional piped-water cost
- Compañía de Agua Mariscal and its rates
- Rates of other private providers and community water systems
- Water cost in ZOLIC and industrial parks (Michatoya, Zeta La Unión)
- National water availability and water-stress zones
- Viability of water-intensive industry in the dry corridor
- Surface-water abundance in the north and Petén
- Water on the Pacific coast and competition with irrigation
- Governmental Agreement 236-2006 and its requirements for industry
- Discharge sampling and penalties under AG 236-2006
- Actual compliance with AG 236-2006 in the Lake Amatitlán basin
- Providers of wastewater plants, ETAR studies and water labs
- Suppliers of reverse osmosis, process water and data-center equipment
- REPSA and the La Pasión river: the ecocide and its consequences
- The Madre Vieja river conflict and its relevance to agribusiness
- Cementos Progreso in San Juan Sacatepéquez
- The Oxec hydro plants on the Cahabón and the Constitutional Court ruling
- The Escobal mine and the pattern of water conflicts
- Water management at beverage plants: Cervecería, CBC and Coca-Cola
- Water at dyeing and textile plants and their cluster
- Data-center water use and the standard cooling design
- Status of Bill 6816, the Water Law, in Congress
- The progressive fee and costs under the future Water Law
- Industrial-water data points still unconfirmed
- Indicators and sources for monitoring water risk
Land and property for foreigners
- Foreign land ownership and title security
- Title-risk map by property type
- State territorial reserves under Article 122
- The 15 km border strip closed to foreigners (Art. 123)
- Local corporations as a failed route to beach, lake or border land
- Personal purchase under the Foreign Investment Law
- The property registry and how to check a title
- Contents and cost of an RGP registry certificate
- RGP fee schedule: sales, promises, mortgages and attachments
- The RIC and national cadastre progress
- Cadastred territory and the registry-cadastre mismatch
- Title insurance in Guatemala: First American and Stewart
- Possessory rights and the risk of buying them
- Communal lands under the RIC law and how to check them
- Land usurpation: penalties, cases and invasions
- Defective titles, double registrations and seller claims
- Supplementary titling: Decree 49-79 requirements
- Properties excluded from supplementary titling and the hectare cap
- The supplementary-titling court procedure and its timeline
- Supplementary titling for foreigners after CC ruling 1331-2005
- The 2020 closure of the Secretariat of Agrarian Affairs
- COPRECON: membership and agrarian-conflict caseload
- Evictions in 2024 and agrarian-conflict hotspots
- Risks of land adjudicated via FONTIERRAS and agrarian decrees
- OCRET and leasing beachfront and lakeshore land
- OCRET lease terms, rent and beach frontage
- OCRET's new regulation: Governmental Agreement 151-2024
- Municipal ejido land and its purchase regime
- Steps of a property purchase and registration timeline
- Total purchase costs: VAT, stamp tax, notary and registry
- Property sale tax and the annual IUSI
- Buying personally or through a company, and remote closing
- Nine-point due-diligence checklist for buying land
- Land and property facts still unconfirmed
- Proposed land-security indicators
Local and multilateral financing
- Size of the banking system and number of banks
- Credit depth: private-sector credit to GDP
- Bank credit to the private sector by currency
- Cross-border funding and private external loans
- Banco Industrial: profile and size
- Banrural and its weight for investing outside the capital
- Banco G&T Continental: size and profile
- BAM: Bancolombia's ownership and purchase price
- BAC Guatemala: financing role and recent deals
- Promerica, Ficohsa and the official bank list
- Policy rate and average bank lending rate
- Where to find bank lending rates by segment and currency
- Repos, CDPs and Certibonos: the quetzal yield curve
- Borrowing in dollars versus quetzales: cost and risk
- Loan collateral and movable-asset security (Decreto 51-2007)
- Collateral requirements on loans (Enterprise Surveys)
- Inventory financing and the 'bono de prenda'
- The Leasing Law (Decreto 2-2021) and its entry into force
- Leasing providers and lessors' funding costs
- Invoice factoring and Decreto 1-2018
- Trading volumes and instruments on the BVN
- Issuing commercial paper and bonds on the BVN and the equity market
- CBC's precedent in international bonds
- Comcel's (Tigo Guatemala) international bond
- Cementos Progreso's international bonds
- The BAC + Positivo bond and its anchor investor
- The sovereign eurobond cost and the latest issue
- Recent IFC operations in Guatemala
- IDB and IDB Invest financing plans for 2026-2028
- CABEI (BCIE) credit lines in Guatemala and how to access them
- US financing: DFC and EXIM
- Direct access to IFC, IDB Invest, CABEI and other agencies
- DPR securitisations: remittances as bank funding
- Venture capital, angels and private equity in Guatemala
- A practical route to financing a typical investment
- Financial Stability Report (Dec. 2025): bank liquidity, solvency, non-performing loans and profitability
- Credit to businesses and households in 2025: growth, composition and currency (FSR Dec. 2025)
Importing machinery and inputs
- Import duty on industrial machinery
- Central American Common External Tariff brackets
- General range of the import duty and average applied tariff
- Duty-free US goods under CAFTA-DR and the phase-out's end
- Looking up the exact 10-digit tariff line
- 12% VAT on imported machinery and its recovery
- SAT Tax Criterion 1-2026 on courier VAT and duties
- Customs valuation: the base for import taxes
- Importing used industrial machinery and age restrictions
- The four regimes of Decree 29-89 (maquila law)
- Inputs under Decree 29-89 temporary admission and suspension period
- Article 12 bis benefits of Decree 29-89 for apparel/textiles and ICT
- Sectors and products excluded from Decree 29-89 after the 2016 reform
- Decree 29-89 guarantee for suspended taxes and its release
- Ongoing obligations and penalties under Decree 29-89
- Qualification process under Decree 29-89 and exclusions
- Decree 29-89 flexibilities: subcontracting, transfers and free zones
- Free zones (Decree 65-89) and ZDEEP versus Decree 29-89
- Taxes on imported vehicles: IPRIMA and duty
- Banned used vehicle imports and the alleged 10-year cap
- De minimis threshold for traveler goods (US$500)
- Simplified courier declaration and VAT de minimis
- Customs broker requirement for importing
- The DUCA and the differences between DUCA-D, DUCA-F and DUCA-T
- Real customs clearance times: land, sea and air
- Second edition of the customs clearance time study
- Green and red customs channels and the main sites' revenue weight
- SAT's Authorized Economic Operator program: requirements and benefits
- Guatemala's losses to smuggling and illicit trade
- Guatemala in TRACIT's 2025 Illicit Trade Index and SAT seizures
- Sectors competing with smuggling and the risk for manufacturers
- Solidarity tax (ISO) and local input VAT for Decree 29-89 companies
Municipal intelligence for siting
- Banguat's official GDP-by-department series (PIBR)
- Departments that concentrate Guatemala's GDP
- 2024 GDP and growth in the seven key departments
- GDP per capita by department: highest and lowest
- Izabal's 2023 economic contraction and its figure
- Guatemala's population per INE post-census projections
- Population of the departments relevant for site selection
- Labor force, unemployment and informality by area (ENEIC 2024)
- Population of the industrial municipalities (Villa Nueva, Mixco and more)
- Villa Nueva as an industrial municipality: permits and IUSI
- Mixco's El Naranjo industrial zone and its building permit
- San Miguel Petapa for logistics operations: Multinova
- Amatitlán's industry and its concentration along CA-9
- Michatoya Pacífico and its location between Palín and Escuintla
- Escuintla city's economic base and nearby ZDEEPs
- The Puerto San José international cargo airport
- Puerto Barrios and Santo Tomás de Castilla for Atlantic-side operations
- Particularities of Quetzaltenango (Xela) for setting up
- Chimaltenango as a maquila hub without a free zone
- Cobán and Alta Verapaz as a location
- Building permit timelines across municipalities
- IUSI property tax rates (Decree 15-98) and the State-municipality split
- The IUSI reform (Decree 18-2026) for plants and warehouses
- IUSI collection: municipalities versus DICABI (Finance Ministry)
- The boleto de ornato levy: who pays and rates (Decree 121-96)
- Water availability for plants in the Guatemala metro area
- Guatemala City's water deficit and EMPAGUA's supply
- FUNDESA's Local Competitiveness Index and the 2025 top ranks
- SEGEPLAN's official municipal management ranking
- Sources of official municipal statistics in Guatemala
- Municipal one-stop windows for opening a business and recruiting (VUE and VUME)
- Business-case variables by chosen municipality
Guatemala against the region
- Population, GDP and labor force: Guatemala versus the region (2024)
- Labor force at 7.5 vs 8.2 million: WDI versus ENEIC
- Guatemala's 2026 minimum wage for maquila and non-agricultural work
- Costa Rica's 2026 minimum wage versus Guatemala
- El Salvador's maquila minimum wage
- Honduras' 2026 maquila minimum wage
- Nicaragua's free-zone minimum wage
- The Dominican Republic's free-zone minimum wage
- Mexico's 2026 minimum wage, general and northern border
- Guatemala's place on the regional maquila labor-cost ladder
- Guatemala's industrial electricity tariff versus Central America
- Real scope of the 'cheapest SIEPAC electricity' claim: EEGSA area only
- Guatemala's renewable power mix and electrification versus the region
- Guatemala's corporate income tax rate compared with the region
- Guatemala's export incentives versus its neighbors
- Costa Rica's free zone regime (Law 7210)
- El Salvador's free-zone and international services incentives
- Honduras' free-zone regimes (ZOLI, ZIP, RIT): firms and jobs
- Nicaragua's 2026 free-zone reform
- The Dominican Republic's Free Zone Law 8-90
- Mexico's IMMEX program and income tax
- Guatemala's lagging tax incentives and OECD Pillar 2
- The OECD certificate for the La Lima and Coyol free zones
- Guatemala's FDI inflows versus Costa Rica, the DR and the region
- Sovereign ratings of Guatemala and the region as of 2026
- Guatemala as Central America's best-rated sovereign credit
- Guatemala's homicide rate versus the region (2025)
- Guatemala in the regional Logistics Performance Index (LPI 2023)
- Guatemala's container throughput (TEU) versus the region
- Guatemala's English proficiency versus the region (EF EPI 2025)
- Where Guatemala beats its regional competitors
- Where Guatemala loses to its regional competitors
Running an agro-export operation
- VISAR as the sanitary and phytosanitary authority for exports
- Requirements and cost of the phytosanitary export certificate
- Phytosanitary permit for importing seeds and agricultural inputs
- Farm registration with VISAR and food safety regulation 969-99
- PIPAA and the crops requiring pre-certification
- Phytosanitary export certificates issued per year
- Agricultural export document flow: SEADEX, DEPREX and DUCA F
- Issuance of electronic phytosanitary certificates (ePhyto)
- FDA requirements for exporters and DWPE detention risks
- Mayacert: organic, GLOBALG.A.P. and Rainforest Alliance certification
- International certifiers (PrimusGFS, Kiwa, SCS) and palm risk
- 3PL cold storage: Emergent Cold and its locations
- Other cold logistics providers and port reefer capacity
- Perishable air cargo via La Aurora and COMBEX-IM's limits
- COMBEX-IM courier capacity and DGAC air cargo statistics
- Guatemala–Miami air cargo capacity for perishables
- Production, packing and export of snow peas and French beans
- Actual status of Hass avocado exports to the United States
- Mango exports to the US and the sector's 2030 target
- Melon and berry clusters and their exporters
- Irrigated land and the 2024-2033 National Irrigation Policy
- Inventory of state irrigation units and rehabilitations
- Soil suitability maps for evaluating farmland
- The 2026 agricultural minimum wage
- Labor rules for farm workers, crews and harvest
- Foreign capital entry into the coffee chain
- Foreign investment in the sugar industry
- Structure of the cardamom chain and its exporters
- Control of export bananas and investor entry routes
- Oil palm: acreage, producers and EUDR risk in Europe
- M&A and foreign capital in export vegetables and berries
- Guatemalan agricultural products admissible into the United States
- Sequence for setting up an agro-export operation
Operational and cargo security
- Crime landscape and the cost of operating in Guatemala
- Decree 52-2010, the private security law
- DIGESSP as the private security regulator
- Penalties for hiring unlicensed private security
- DIGESSP licensing for GPS, alarms and monitoring
- The 275 authorized private security companies
- The 19,977 credentialed guards and the largest firms
- Growth of the private security registry, 2017-2026
- Costs of guards, cargo escorts and GPS monitoring
- Truck and container theft series, 2017-2025
- The drop from 200 to 2 truck thefts a month, under caution
- Highest-risk routes for cargo transport
- GPS jammers and truck theft on demand
- The public-private response to truck theft
- Stolen cargo value and signal jammer regulation
- Evolution of extortion complaints, 2012-2023
- Extortion in 2024 and its downward trend in 2026
- Anatomy of extortion: imitators and prisons
- Geography of extortion and its typical victims
- Extortion offenses and penalties in the Penal Code
- The judicial funnel of extortion complaints
- Anti-extortion units and reporting channels
- MS-13, Barrio 18 and Anti-Gang Law 11-2025
- Paying gang extortion and the material support risk
- Kidnapping as a residual risk in Guatemala
- High-risk areas under the US Travel Advisory
- Industrial operations in Villa Nueva, Amatitlán and Escuintla
- The January 2026 state of siege
- Political risk insurance via MIGA and DFC
- Insurer supervision and cargo insurance (SIB, AGIS)
- Security best practices recommended by OSAC
- Road blockades and logistics redundancy
Tourism, hospitality and residency
- International arrivals 2023-2025 and their evolution
- International tourism in 2026 to date
- Size of domestic tourism and the weight of Holy Week
- Source countries of Guatemala's tourists
- Visitors by country of residence and their change in 2026
- Visitor entry routes: air, land and sea
- Cruise ships and cruise passengers per season
- New air routes: Air Canada, Frontier, Wingo and Avianca
- Traffic at Mundo Maya airport in Flores and its real status
- Hotel and room stock and its legal classification
- INGUAT lodging registration and its requirements
- International brand hotels under construction or announced
- Hotel occupancy and rates in Antigua, Atitlán and Petén
- Tourist daily spend, length of stay and GDP contribution
- Current tax incentives for hotels and tourism
- INGUAT's 10% lodging tax and its revenue
- Initiative 6811 to reform the INGUAT law and its status
- Building permits in Antigua: CNPAG and Decree 60-69
- Antigua's municipal plans (PDTM 2025-2029, POT) and tourist flow
- Environmental restrictions at Atitlán: Decree 64-97 and CONAP
- AMSCLAE opinions and wastewater rules at Atitlán
- Rules for tourism projects in the Maya Biosphere Reserve
- Tikal's visitors, entry fees and road access
- Legality, taxes and registrations for running an Airbnb
- SAT audits of Airbnb hosts and amounts recovered
- Airbnb listings in Guatemala City and Antigua: occupancy and revenue
- The current residency regulation and the 2025 changes
- Tourist stay limits and the 90-day extension
- Digital nomads and migrant worker residency with a foreign employer
- Investment amount and documents for investor residency
- Income required for rentista or pensioner residency
- Residencies granted per year and their types
- House prices and price per square meter in Antigua Guatemala
- Rental costs for houses and apartments in Antigua Guatemala
- Land and house prices at Lake Atitlán
proveedores acuicultura
- The legal frame for fishing and aquaculture: MAGA, DIPESCA and the concession by licence
- No open list of aquaculture licences: what DIPESCA publishes and what it does not
- The Aquaculture and Fisheries companies in AGEXPORT's Exporters Directory
- The Pacific shrimp fleet's TED certification (NOAA inspection, August 2026)
- PRONASA and VISAR: aquatic animal health, imports and traceability
- Fish and crustacean trade is already in the verified archive (HS chapters 03 and 16)
- The shrimp producers in the Exporters Directory: products, certifications and declared markets
- The shrimp producers in the Exporters Directory: products, certifications and declared markets (2)
- The tilapia producers in the Exporters Directory
- Mahi-mahi and tuna fishing: the companies in the Exporters Directory
- Aquaculture inputs and the sector's other profiles in the Exporters Directory
proveedores textil
- Apparel and textile suppliers: AGEXPORT's listing
- Labels, printing and packaging — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (1)
- Labels, printing and packaging — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (2)
- Labels, printing and packaging — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (3)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (1)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (2)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (3)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (4)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (5)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (6)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (7)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (8)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (9)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (10)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (11)
- Fabrics and knits — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (12)
- Machinery, logistics and services to the sector — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (1)
- Machinery, logistics and services to the sector — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (2)
- Machinery, logistics and services to the sector — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (3)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (1)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (2)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (3)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (4)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (5)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (6)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (7)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (8)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (9)
- Garment manufacturing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (10)
- Buttons, zippers, buckles and hardware — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT
- Tapes, elastics, lace and webbing — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT
- Threads and yarns — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (1)
- Threads and yarns — suppliers listed by AGEXPORT (2)
This layer is research: read from public sources by the archive's own team, every claim cited with the date it was consulted, and audited where it is marked so. It has not entered the verified store — no figure here was fetched back from its source or stamped with a retrieval time — so it wears no red provenance numeral and never mixes with the verified figures.