American Chamber of Commerce – July 14, 2008

On Monday afternoon we met with Avil Ramirez at the American Chamber of Commerce of Nicaragua. The Chamber’s primary purpose is to bring business and investors to Nicaragua. The two main investment opportunities in Nicaragua are tourism and manufacturing textiles. Nicaragua is a member of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-PR, Puerto Rico is also part of the agreement) and as a result, exports to the U.S. have increased by 30 percent since inception and this has created more jobs in Nicaragua. Currently, 60 percent of Nicaragua’s trade occurs with the U.S.


Nicaragua boasts tremendous prices for setting up businesses as land in many parts of the country is very inexpensive. However, there are still concerns about property rights and infrastructure when considering growing a business in Nicaragua. Inflation too has stymied the economy at about 25 percent this past year as commodities and transportation become more expensive as we are seeing across the world.



The Chamber supports education in Nicaragua providing over $2 million per year on scholarships, development of instructional materials and curriculum. The Chamber is providing resources to teach kids how to grow food and providing them the tools to do so. Teaching English is also an education initiative the Chamber has been working on.