Rebuilding a nation

Of course, there is more to business on foreign soil than roads and ports. It takes governmental cooperation in paper-trail navigation. Potential investors have, in this case, a governmental pledge to provide smooth sailing through paperwork. In reality, the country offers a one-stop window for all business permits.

"Many problems the investor has are the hidden costs of the bureaucracy, and that is somethingwe have been working very hard on since the beginning," says Vice President Quintanilla. "There is one office window where you can do every procedure to obtain your permit."

The incentives are apparent for any size business and El Salvador has worked out a plan to keep the climate comfortable for foreign investors for years to come.

"You can have your company legally working in 10 days. There are no limits on foreign capital," continues Peralta. "You don't need a local partner. You can invest $2,000 or  $200 million. To further entice business, there are no taxes on capital gains; we offer duty-free imports of machinery, raw materials and intermediate goods for 10 years. Additionally, we offer a flat corporate tax rate of 25 percent."

 Export permits, through the Export Electronic System on-line clearinghouse, take bout 45 minutes and the country offers self-clearing, ISO-certified customs.

Economy without borders

The new government is "transparent," says Lacayo, in that its dealings are above board and easy to understand. "We should finish negotiating with the U.S. and Canada in the next couple of years. When people go to a foreign country they generally find a lot of red tape. That is not the case here. The cost of doing business is very predictable."

In January, the White House officially opened negotiations with five Central American countries (collectively importing a reported $9 billion in trade each year) to create a free trade agreement within a year. U.S. trade representative Robert B. Zoellick now has chief responsibility for promoting improved NAFTA-like relations with Central America, which, in turn, exports a reported $11 billion to the U.S. The move puts the U.S. in straight competition with a European push for trade leverage with an Argentine, Brazilian-led consortium.