Guatemala Country Profile

Snapshot of the Guatemala Country Profile


In the last 5 years, Guatemala has shown a stable economic growth of around 4% and a political will to pursue reforms conducive to a better business climate. Many reforms intended to promote market attractiveness, investments and economic growth were initiated during the previous pro-business administration of President Berger (2004-2008), and President Colom has pledged to further improve the business environment and to promote foreign investment. President Colom has also advocated a zero tolerance policy towards corruption and announced his intentions to strengthen and coordinate public entities created to fight corruption in the country.

Positive developments in relation to corruption and investment:

  •  Surveys indicate that the country has made progress in reducing the burden of corruption on companies in recent years, especially petty corruption solicited by lower level public officials.
  • The government launched an initiative in 2004 to enhance transparency, the Guatecompras web portal (in Spanish), where all bids and information about awarded public contracts above a certain threshold have to be published. Computerisation of public procurement is intended to reduce the number of direct contact points between public officials and companies, thus reducing the opportunities to solicit bribes in return for contracts.
  • Recent data indicates that some progress has been made in reducing bribes in return for import licences.

Risks of corruption:

  • Companies are likely to encounter demands for unofficial payments when applying for several permits and licences and when connecting to public utilities, and a large proportion of companies report that they pay bribes in return for government contracts.
  • The legal and regulatory systems are confusing and non-transparent and leave space for discretion. As a consequence, government regulations are inconsistently enforced, and companies have to deal with a cumbersome bureaucracy when carrying out business activities.
  • Regulation regarding conflict of interest in the Public Procurement process is insufficient and public officials are able to pursue their personal interests by creating front companies and then awarding them with public contracts.
  • The backlogged and allegedly corrupt judiciary is a major impediment for settling commercial disputes, especially in terms of property rights.


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