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© Reuters. Hernández shows diplomats the development of Honduras in infrastructure
Puerto Cortés (Honduras), Nov 7 (.) .- The president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, showed this Sunday to ambassadors from several countries accredited in Tegucigalpa, the development that his country has had in recent years in infrastructure, mainly the dry channel that connects the Caribbean with the Pacific.
“The idea is to be able to show the ambassadors what the dry canal is already, to unite the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific, starting with Puerto Cortés,” Hernández told reporters.
He added that since 2013, 350 million dollars have been invested in the Puerto Cortés facilities, which has allowed its facilities to now become “a benchmark in the Central American Caribbean.”
Hernández also pointed out that the construction and repair of highways that have been being promoted towards the borders with Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, are contributing, together with the dry canal and the Palmerola International Airport, in the center of the country, to “enhance the logistics center for the Americas “.
The president explained the facilities that Honduras now has to speed up trade from the Atlantic to the Pacific with a four-lane highway.
Hernández was accompanied on the journey from Puerto Cortés to Goascorán, in the department of Valle, bordering El Salvador, several of his ministers and the ambassadors of Spain, Guillermo Kirkpatrick; Chile, Enrique Barriba; South Korea, Jae-Hyun Shim, and Taiwan, Diego Wen.
The tour included the mobilization from Tegucigalpa to Puerto Cortés and Comayagua (center) by helicopter, and then the delegation was accompanied on a section by old, classic cars from a private association, and another by motorcyclists in powerful machines that arrived as far as Goascorán.
To complete the dry canal, which until now covers the port of Henecán, in San Lorenzo (Gulf of Fonseca, Pacific, which Honduras shares with El Salvador and Nicaragua), the Government will build, foreseeably starting next year, a long bridge that will unite Amapala, on Isla del Tigre, with Coyolito, on the mainland.
In addition, a port will be built in Amapala taking advantage of the depth of its waters, said Hernández.
The Amapala bridge and pier project will cost about 208 million dollars, the loan of which was approved last week by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).
In the Lake Yojoa sector, the delegation stopped at a mountain hotel, where a demonstration of derivatives produced by artisans from various regions of the country was held.
SUPPORT FROM SPAIN TO COCOA PRODUCERS
The Spanish ambassador told Efe that what Honduras is doing in terms of infrastructure is important, among which the Palmerola International Airport stood out, which has been built in part with Debt Reconversion Funds between the two countries.
“We are very happy with the great closeness between Honduras and Spain, in addition to the official programs supported by the Government, the cooperation also translates into an understanding between the private sectors,” Kirkpatrick stressed.
A sample of Spanish collaboration with private sectors has been the presence in the Lake Yojoa sector of the director of the Madrid Cocoa School, Hellen López, who arrived to advise Honduran cocoa producers.
THE DRY CHANNEL HAS REDUCED THE TIMES TO MOVE THE .ERCIO
The Honduran Foreign Minister, Lisandro Rosales, told Efe that the journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific with the ambassadors of Spain, Chile, South Korea and Taiwan, has been “a moment to demonstrate what Honduras has achieved in logistics.”
“Puerto Cortés is a before and after, then we have the modern four-lane highway that connects Puerto Cortés with San Lorenzo, which has reduced the times of mobilization of people and commerce, also promoting tourist districts,” said the senior Honduran official.
He also pointed out that the works are a sample to “believe that Honduras has great potential and that we are a strategic point in Latin America.”
