World Bank2017-06-152017-06-152012-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/27216The 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 IGOACCESS TO MARKETACCESSIBILITYAGRIBUSINESSAGRICULTURAL EXTENSIONAGRONOMIC PRACTICESAIRAIR TRAVELAIRPORTAIRPORTSAPPLESAQUACULTUREARTERIESAUCTIONAUCTIONSBEST PRACTICESBORDER INFRASTRUCTUREBOTTLENECKSBRANDBRANDSBUSINESS INFORMATIONBUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMBUSINESS LEADERSBUSINESS OPPORTUNITIESBUSINESS STRATEGIESBUSINESS STRATEGYBUYERCAPACITY BUILDINGCASH FLOWCOFFEECOFFEE BEANSCOFFEE BUYERSCOFFEE EXPORTSCOFFEE FARMERSCOFFEE GROWERSCOFFEE GROWINGCOFFEE GROWING AREASCOFFEE INDUSTRYCOFFEE MARKETCOFFEE MARKETSCOFFEE PRODUCERCOFFEE PRODUCERSCOFFEE PRODUCTIONCOFFEE SECTORCOMMERCECOMMODITIESCOMMODITYCOMMON MARKETCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIESCOMPETITIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE ADVANTAGESCOMPETITIVENESSCONSERVATION PRINCIPLESCONSUMER DEMANDCONSUMER MARKETCOOPERATIVESCOUNTRY OF ORIGINCROPCROPSCULTIVATIONCUSTOMIZATIONCUSTOMSCUSTOMS CLEARANCEDEMAND ANALYSISDISTRIBUTION CHANNELDOMAINDOMESTIC MARKETDRIVERSDRIVINGDRIVING COSTSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIES OF SCALEELECTRONIC PLATFORMEMERGING MARKETSENABLING ENVIRONMENTENTRY POINTSEQUIPMENTEXPENDITURESEXPORT MARKETEXPORT PROMOTIONEXTERNALITIESFAOFARMFARM MANAGEMENTFARMERFARMSFERTILIZERFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL SERVICEFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN EXCHANGEFREIGHTFRUITSFUELFUNGIGLOBAL COMPETITIVENESSGLOBAL MARKETGLOBAL MARKETPLACEGLOBAL MARKETSGLOBALIZATIONGOVERNMENT POLICIESGPSGREEN BEANSGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROWTH POTENTIALGROWTH STRATEGYHARMONIZATIONHARVESTINGHUMAN CAPACITYICTIMPACT OF TRANSPORTIMPACT OF TRANSPORT COSTSINCOME GENERATIONINDUSTRY STANDARDSINFORMATION FLOWSINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTSINNOVATIONINSPECTIONINSTITUTIONINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINTERNATIONAL MARKETINTERNATIONAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTINTERNET AUCTIONINVENTORIESINVENTORYLABOR COSTSLAND USELAND USE PLANNINGLIMITED ACCESSMANUFACTURINGMARKET ACCESSMARKET ANALYSISMARKET DEMANDMARKET DEMANDSMARKET INFORMATIONMARKET OPPORTUNITIESMARKET POSITIONINGMARKET PRICESMARKET RESEARCHMARKET SEGMENTMARKET SEGMENTATIONMARKET SEGMENTSMARKET SHAREMARKET SURVEYMARKET TRENDSMARKETINGMARKETING BOARDMARKETPLACEMEDICAL DEVICEMEDICAL DEVICESMEDIUM ENTERPRISEMEDIUM ENTERPRISESMODES OF TRANSPORTMULTIMODAL TRANSPORTNEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTNEW TECHNOLOGIESONLINE AUCTIONONLINE AUCTIONSORGANIC AGRICULTUREORGANIC FARMINGPERFORMANCE MEASUREPLANTATIONSPORT FACILITIESPRICE DIFFERENTIALPRICE TRENDSPRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATIONPRODUCEPRODUCER PRICEPRODUCT INFORMATIONPRODUCT INNOVATIONPRODUCT QUALITYPRODUCTION COSTSPRODUCTION PROCESSPRODUCTION PROCESSESPRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIESPRODUCTIVITYPROFIT MARGINSPROTOCOLPUBLIC WORKSPURCHASINGQUALITY COFFEER&DREGIONAL TRANSPORTATIONREGIONAL TRAVELRELIABILITYRESULTRESULTSRETAILRETAIL SALESROADROAD INFRASTRUCTUREROUTERURAL ROADSSAFETYSALESSANITATIONSECURITY SERVICESERVERSERVICE PROVIDERSSILOSSITESSMALL FARMERSSMALL PRODUCERSSPECIALTY COFFEESPECIALTY COFFEE MARKETSSTANDARDIZATIONSUPPLIERSSUPPLY CHAINTAXTAXI DRIVERTAXISTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETECHNICAL SKILLSTECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCESTECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTTRACEABILITYTRAFFICTRANSPORTTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION NETWORKSTRAVELERSTRIPTROPICAL AGRICULTUREVALUE CHAINVALUE CHAINSWORLD MARKETSWORLD TRADEWWWYIELDSWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/27216