Honduras News – Daily News about Honduras

According to the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Danli and the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Federation (Fedecamaras), Miguel Berrios, over 15,000 thousand companies that can’t pay the minimum wage increase could be closing in Honduras.

Berrios informed that as a small business owner, he is closing one of his businesses since there is no way he can afford to pay the minimum wage, he also believes that over 300 small and medium businesses will close on the eastern area of Honduras.

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The mobile arm of Honduran national PTO Hondutel is making headway in the sector despite intense local competition, says company CEO Jorge Alberto Rosa, as reported by BNamericas quoting an interview with local daily La Tribuna. ‘We continue to grow; in the area of Santa Rosa de Copan we are finishing the installation of new offices and we are ready to offer mobile telephony,’ the CEO said. Hondutel, through Honducel, launched mobile services in July 2007 but has reputedly struggled to flourish due to its solely urban coverage. The service, which is available in the capital Tegucigalpa as well as in San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, Juticalpa, Catacamas and 200 other communities, has 80,000 users, according to the newspaper.

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The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Panama and Honduras took effect on Friday, which will facilitate the circulation of 80 percent of the goods between both countries, the Panamanian Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Mici) said, Xinhua reported.

According to Mici, the commercial agreement will allow the free circulation of goods, intensify the services sector and create opportunities for bilateral commercial exchanges, which totaled 165 million U.S. dollars.

The agreement was signed in June 2007 by Panamanian President Martin Torrijos and his Honduran counterpart Manuel Zelaya after one-year negotiations.

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Honduran union leaders and government authorities questioned the decision of some representatives of the business sector to impugn the new minimum wage.

The Minister of Labor, Mayra Mejia, criticized the determination of members of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP) and considered that business executives should understand the cost of the basic food basket that is higher even than what had been considered during the government of Manuel Zelaya.

Before ratifying the state decree on December 24 of 2008 the minimum wage in Honduras was approximately 180 dollars (3,400 lempiras) and as a result of the decree it rose to 5,500 lempiras (about 292 dollars).

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