Honduras Wants You

Retirement Caribbean-style isn’t all dolphin watching, beachcombing, and gazing out to sea. If you need to make a living to help make your new life overseas, Honduras has opportunity aplenty.

The Honduran government wants you to start a business in their country. They're trying to make it as easy as possible. And the opportunities here are many.

Current incentives to get large and small companies to locate in Honduras have attracted a large number of American companies, including Wrangler, Fruit of the Loom, and Maidenform. They are all located in free zone areas, which provides special benefits for export companies, such as:

* No import or export duties for material, equipment, or office supplies

* No income tax, no city tax, and no county tax.

* 100% repatriation of income.

* Minimal paperwork required to clear incoming or outgoing shipments.

Recently, the Honduran government awarded management and development of the cruise ship dock on Roatan to Royal Caribbean International. Royal will improve the land around the port area, rebuild the existing dock, build a new terminal building, and construct a second pier. The goal is to increase annual cruise ship passenger traffic from the current 287,000 to one million passengers within five years.

Plus, the government has plans to make Roatan a free port (i.e. free of import duties); legislation is before Congress as I write. This will greatly increase development on our undeveloped island, and strengthen the economy for the Honduran people.

The tourism industry is taking off. In addition to the new cruise ship dock, Continental and Delta Airlines have increased their direct flights to Roatan, and passenger ferry traffic between La Ceiba and Roatan has increased. A new ferry is coming soon, which will halve the journey time to about one hour (but the price will remain $16 each way).

What does all this mean for you? Honduras is the land of opportunity for entrepreneurs with small- to medium-sized business ideas. On Roatan alone, there is a need for almost everything (don't let the restaurants- and dive shop-for-sale signs fool you). I don't have room here to list every business I think would succeed on the island, but my Top Five are:

- Sporting goods store (my top pick--half the island fishes, but there's nowhere to buy equipment)

- One-hour photo developer

- Car dealer (new and used, including motorcycles)

- Dry cleaner and a launderette

- Ladies' clothes store (with a broader selection than size 3 and smaller, please)

You should note that these businesses would not only serve the expat community--the entire island is crying out for these types of services.

If you engage in a government-approved project--anything from a hotel to car rental--you get a 10-year exemption on taxes.

I'm hosting the upcoming Live and Prosper in Honduras Seminar on Roatan if you'd like to discuss any of these ideas further (and Honduras' new Minister for Tourism hopes to be there, too). We'll cover in detail why Honduras is your best option, whether you're an entrepreneur, a retiree, a bargain hunter, a Caribbean vacationer, or a dreamer. You can read more about this event here, but places are limited and time is short--we kick off in 11 days. Contact the Seminar Hotline for fastest service: tel. 1-866-381-8446 toll-free (ask for Eric) or e-mail events@internationalliving.com.

Janine Goben
Honduras Editor, International Living

P.S. In Honduras the over-60s don't wait in line. Preference is given to anyone over the age of 60 at many locations, including banks. Plus, if you're 60+, you get a 10% discount on most goods and services--just ask.