Legislation passed in Honduras makes credit now available to farmers and small businesses through secured transactions. Every single one of these programs can be a model for the rest of us, and that is what I hope comes from our meeting today.

The United States is committed to working with our Pathways partners to modernize laws that govern lending so that small and medium size businesses can use assets other than real estate as collateral for loans. I visited the display that Honduras has, and they showed me the kind of equipment that can now serve as collateral in Honduras because Honduras has changed their laws: sewing machines, tool boxes, farm equipment.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the source of employment for many of our citizens. We must give them the chance to borrow larger amounts at lower interest rates with longer repayment periods if we’re going to make it easier for these enterprises to thrive. And I commend Honduras for the model programs that they are implementing.

The above excerpts from Pathways to Prosperity written in San Jose, Costa Rica on March 4, 2010 by Hillary Clinton