CentAm unveils development plan for Fonseca Gulf

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) presented Thursday in Honduras capital Tegucigalpa a tri-national master plan for the development of the Fonseca Gulf.

The plan was prepared by delegations from the governments of Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador – the three countries with coastline on the gulf – with financial support from Cabei and technical assistance from Spanish consultancy firm IDOM.

The presentation was attended by Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, while El Salvador's Salvador Sánchez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega joined via a live stream.

The plan includes investment projects and strategic guidelines to promote economic development in the region for short, medium, and long term planning and as a negotiation tool, Cabei said in a release.

At the end of the event, the leaders of the three nations signed a joint declaration in which they agreed to adopt the master plan.

The three presidents also agreed to invite international cooperation partners to support the implementation of the plan, as well as to request Cabei to set up a tri-national fund to finance the plan, which is expected to include state-owned development banks, multilaterals and commercial banks.

The leaders will also instruct their respective security forces to continue working to increase public security in the trade and transport of goods and people in the region.

According to previous official information, some of the projects projected for the gulf area include a logistics and agribusiness corridor, a free trade area in the Nicaraguan department of Chinandega and a tri-national ferry service.