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Latin America & the Caribbean

Latin America & the Caribbean

CLDP provides technical assistance to countries across Latin America and the Caribbean on a range of legal and commercial issues. Through agreements with USAID and the U.S. Department of State, CLDP focuses on high-priority areas identified through technical exchanges between CLDP Attorney-Advisors and local government counterparts. By promoting transparency initiatives, improving trade processes, supporting the development of small businesses and their inclusion in public procurement, and increasing the electrification of rural zones through microgrid infrastructure development, CLDP continues to build institutional capacity to fuel economic growth throughout the region. CLDP has worked in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. 

Watch these CLDP Shorts to learn how governments and the private sector can work together to bolster international trade, develop a reliable and sustainable energy supply, and leverage the textiles industry to accelerate economic growth.   

Please click here to learn about CLDP's results in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Central America Microgrids

HONDURAS

CLDP has been working with the Honduran government since 2018 to develop regulations for both off-grid and integrated microgrids. Honduras currently faces an energy deficit due to outdated transmission lines and rural communities are cut off from electricity access due to their remote nature. By developing microgrid infrastructure, the Honduran government can help rural communities access electricity and allow for businesses and manufacturers to increase their energy resiliency despite the weak transmission. In addition to helping the Honduras government understand the fundamental policy choices of developing microgrid regulations, CLDP has also been working with the government to develop a model contract that can be used by communities looking to create a microgrid.

Please click here to learn more about CLDP’s Microgrids program in Honduras.

Central America Trade Facilitation

EL SALVADOR

CLDP closely supports El Salvador in ongoing transparency initiatives, including the implementation of its online notice and comment platform to allow inclusive public consultation in the drafting of trade regulations.  The Salvadoran notice and comment platform will allow U.S. companies to have a voice in developing the regulations that impact their exports to the country. Use of the platform will address regulatory barriers that are estimated to be the equivalent of a 20 percent tariff, which results in saved costs of over $1.4 billion to U.S.-Salvadoran trade and $6.2 billion to trade between the U.S. and the Northern Triangle region. CLDP is currently working with the Salvadoran government to enrich its TFA Article 1.4 Transparency Notification by incorporating additional trade ministries as well as the private sector to enhance transparency and accessibility to trade-related information.

GUATEMALA

CLDP collaborated with the Guatemalan government to improve its interagency coordination and publication practices. As a result of CLDP’s assistance, the Guatemalan government submitted its TFA Article 1.4 Transparency Notification to the WTO that identifies relevant trade-related information across ministerial websites. This increased transparency will improve the efficiency of cross border trade and has an estimated reduction in costs of over $357 million to U.S.-Guatemala trade. CLDP is currently supporting the Guatemalan government to strengthen its public consultation practices by harmonizing transparency processes across Guatemalan trade ministries.

HONDURAS

Working closely with the Honduran government, CLDP assists in improving interagency coordination and publication of trade-related information across agency websites in a non-discriminatory, easy-to-access manner. Honduras has completed its TFA Article 1.4 Transparency Notification and is working with its WTO representative to formally submit the notification to the WTO, which will have an estimated reduction in costs of $257 million to U.S.-Honduras trade. CLDP is continuing to assist the Honduran government foster increased transparency and efficiency through robust implementation of the WTO TFA.  

Please click here to learn more about CLDP’s Trade Facilitation program in Central America.

Textiles Competitiveness

EL SALVADOR

Despite textiles and apparel being El Salvador’s leading manufacturing sector and the primary employer of women, there exists a disconnect between the workforce and the focus of university curricula. In 2017, when CLDP launched the Textiles Competitiveness program, Salvadoran universities did not offer courses or curriculum dedicated to high-skilled positions within the industry, hindering the country’s development of human capacity, integration with U.S. industry, and global competitiveness. Over the course of three years, CLDP, in coordination with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the University of Missouri, supported the Catholic University of El Salvador (UNICAES) to develop El Salvador’s first five-year curriculum on textiles and apparel management. UNICAES professors, identified by program managers, will shadow counterpart U.S. professors from the University of Missouri to continue developing the courses.

Please click here to learn more about CLDP’s Textiles Competitiveness program in El Salvador.

Public Procurement

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

CLDP has worked with the Government of the Dominican Republic (GODR), civil society, and the Dominican private sector to increase transparency, competition, and small business access to its national procurement system. CLDP’s technical assistance approach has emphasized the importance of expanding the use of online procurement platforms, improving bid protest mechanisms, increasing communication between government and industry, and developing new contract methods and procedures for disaster response. Through training programs, private sector engagement events, and legal technical assistance engagements, CLDP provides the GODR with customized solutions and best practices to ensure that its procurement procedures are more transparent, effective, and consistent with the Dominican procurement law and its CAFTA-DR obligations. To ensure greater sustainability for this programming, CLDP is also working with the GODR to develop a certification program for its procurement personnel and procurement technical assistance centers within its small business development program.

Please click here to learn more about CLDP’s Public Procurement program in the Dominican Republic.
 
PERU
 
CLDP’s USAID-funded project in Peru implements direct government-to-government technical assistance to assist the Government of Peru in improving its public procurement system. CLDP works with public and private sector stakeholders to identify challenges and develop technical solutions to increase transparency and efficiency in the procurement process. CLDP also works to ensure the sustainability of these improvements through the professionalization of its procurement workforce.
 
Please click here to learn more about CLDP’s Public Procurement program in Peru.
Countries and Regions