The Northern Triangle inaugurated a new border post for its customs union

By Mayora IP

The member countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America inaugurated a new border post in El Salvador to promote their customs union. The Guatemalan government informed that the post required a USD 1 million investment and signifies “an important step” in the commercial strategy of their alliance. It links Honduras with El Salvador and from 2017 to 2018 registered exports worth USD 826 million.

The Northern Triangle of Central America refers to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, especially in regard to their economic integration. In 2016-2017 the three countries committed USD 5.4 billion of their own funds to support the Alliance for Prosperity (A4P) Initiative to develop opportunities for their people, improve public safety, enhance access to the legal system and strengthen institutions.

Trading across borders in Central America has been a severe problem for many years and the customs union started by the Northern Triangle looks to sort its problems, inviting other countries like Costa Rica and Nicaragua to join the alliance. According to Mayra Alfaro de Moran, Senior Private Sector Specialist, Finance Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice at the World Bank, the region has made concrete progress toward integrating its national economies and expanding its global markets, “but regulatory and procedural constraints, the quality of secondary roads, and transport and logistics barriers have limited the gains".