This research uses the global value chain (GVC) framework to analyze Central America’s participation in global manufacturing value chains, to understand the region’s competitiveness drivers and to evaluate potential risks to continued participation if US trade policies were to change. Central America’s entry into manufacturing GVCs has been through the insertion in various chains including apparel, wire harnesses (automotive) and medical devices. These sectors span low-, medium-, and high-tech manufacturing. They are important contributors to the region’s export basket, and the US is central to their trade. To understand how the region operates in these manufacturing sectors, this report analyzes the participation of select countries in each of the three value chains: apparel (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua), wire harnesses (Honduras and Nicaragua) and medical devices (Costa Rica and Dominican Republic).
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) sponsored a series of GVC research projects in a variety of Latin American countries, including a project to help the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the IDB to design and evaluate new GVC projects for the region. IDB has co-sponsored a number of international conferences and workshops on global value chains throughout Latin America, and supported a one-week GVC training program at the Caribbean Center for Competitiveness at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad in October 8-12, 2012.
Small organic cocoa producers in the Dominican Republic improve their competitiveness by increasing cultivation productivity.
This paper is a summary of five IDB-MIF projects on high-value agriculture value chains that aimed to include small- and medium-sized producers in high-value agriculture value chains. The objective of this paper is to provide a set of lessons learned to design and implement efficient, effective and sustainable projects in the future.
