World Bank2017-06-212017-06-212012-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/27318The Central America region is a small market. The region contains around 43 million inhabitants (0.6 percent of total world population) who generate around 0.25 percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While the region has successfully embarked on a regional integration agenda and has strong commercial links with the US, extra-regional trade-mainly with large fast-growing emerging economies-remains a challenge. Export performance is analyzed along three dimensions that, together, give a fairly comprehensive picture of competitiveness: 1) the composition, orientation and growth of the export basket; 2) the degree of export diversification across products and markets; and 3) the level of sophistication and quality of their main exports. This analysis allows exports dynamics at the different margins of trade (intensive, extensive, and quality) to be evaluated and individual countries' to be benchmarked with peers in the Central American region. The results of this report allow policy makers to identify key areas to explore in the overall discussion of export competitiveness in the Central American region. This paper relates to the literature on challenges and opportunities that trade liberalization can bring to the Central American region. Much of the recent literature focuses on the role of the free trade agreement negotiated by Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, with the US.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOAGREEMENT ON SUBSIDIESAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSAGRICULTUREAPPARELAPPAREL ACCOUNTSAPPAREL EXPORTAPPAREL EXPORTSAPPAREL MANUFACTURINGAPPAREL SECTORBARRIERBENCHMARKBONDBORDER TRADEBUSINESS DEVELOPMENTBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTBUSINESS OPPORTUNITIESCENTRAL BANKCOMMODITYCOMMODITY EXPORTCOMMON MARKETCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIESCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGESCOMPETITIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE POSITIONCOMPETITIVENESSCORPORATE TAXCROWDING OUTCURRENCYCUSTOMSCUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIONCUSTOMS PROCEDURESCUSTOMS REGIMECUSTOMS TERRITORYCUSTOMS UNIONDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDOMESTIC ECONOMYDOMESTIC INDUSTRIESDOMESTIC MARKETDOMESTIC MARKETSDOMESTIC PRODUCERSDOMESTIC PRODUCTIONDOMESTIC SUPPLIERSDUTY DRAWBACKECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC CRISISECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC IMPACTECONOMIC INTEGRATIONECONOMIC STRUCTUREECONOMICSECONOMISTSENVIRONMENTALEPZEXPORT BASKETEXPORT DIVERSIFICATIONEXPORT INCENTIVESEXPORT PERFORMANCEEXPORT PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTSEXPORT PROCESSINGEXPORT PROCESSING ZONEEXPORT PROCESSING ZONESEXPORT SECTOREXPORT SECTORSEXPORT SHAREEXPORT SUBSIDIESEXPORT TAXESEXPORT VALUEEXPORT VOLUMESEXPORTERSEXPORTSFEASIBILITY STUDIESFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SUPPORTFISHERIESFOREIGN COMPANIESFOREIGN CURRENCYFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN EXCHANGEFOREIGN FIRMFOREIGN FIRMSFOREIGN INVESTMENTFOREIGN INVESTORSFOREIGN MARKETSFOREIGN SUPPLIERSFOREIGN TRADEFOREIGN TRADE PROMOTIONFREE ACCESSFREE ACCESS TO IMPORTSFREE ENTRYFREE IMPORTSFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AGREEMENTFREE TRADE AREASFREE TRADE ZONEFREE TRADE ZONESFREE ZONEFREE ZONESFUTURE GROWTHGDPGDP PER CAPITAGENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFSGLOBAL COMPETITIVENESSGLOBALIZATIONGROWTH RATEHARMONIZATIONIMPORT DUTIESINCENTIVE STRUCTUREINCOMEINCOME TAXINCOME TAX EXEMPTIONINDIVIDUAL FIRMSINDUSTRIAL POLICYINFORMATION SYSTEMINTERMEDIATE GOODSINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNATIONAL INVESTORSINTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATIONINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIESINVESTMENT POLICYINVESTOR DEMANDSJOB CREATIONJOINT VENTURESKNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERSLABOR COSTSLABOR FORCELOCAL CURRENCYMARKET ACCESSMARKET SIZEMARKET STANDARDSMETALSMUTUAL RECOGNITIONMUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENTMUTUAL RECOGNITION ARRANGEMENTNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTNATURAL RESOURCESOUTPUTOUTSOURCINGPOLICY DECISIONSPOLICY ENVIRONMENTPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPRODUCERSREAL ESTATEREGIONAL INTEGRATIONREGIONAL TRADEREGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTSREGULATORY ENVIRONMENTREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREGULATORY FRAMEWORKSREINVESTMENTRULES OF ORIGINSHOPSSKILLED WORKERSSMALL COUNTRIESSPECIAL INCENTIVESSPECIAL REGIMESSPECIALIZATIONSTAMP DUTIESSUSTAINABLE GROWTHTAX EXEMPTIONSTAX REVENUETECHNOLOGY TRANSFERTOURISMTRADE AGREEMENTTRADE BARRIERSTRADE COMPETITIVENESSTRADE COSTSTRADE DIVERSIONTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE PARTNERSHIPTRADE POLICYTRADE POLICY ENVIRONMENTTRADE PREFERENCESTRADE PROMOTIONTRADE PROMOTION AGENCYTRANSPORT COSTSUNFAIR COMPETITIONVALUE ADDEDVERTICAL INTEGRATIONWAGESWORLD TRADEWORLD TRADE ORGANIZATIONWTOWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/27318