Guatemala is emerging as a major industrial and technology power in Central America. Targeting the consolidation and expansion of production in well-established and new sectors (high technology, electronics, and semiconductors), Guatemala’s National Strategy to Attract Investment could play an important role in driving investment over the next five years.
Francisco González, president of the National Auto Parts Industry of Mexico, was one of the speakers in a recent Enade 2025 (National Meeting of Entrepreneurs for Development) panel who emphasized Guatemala’s strategic location, logistics, and development potential in the sector. Held on October 9, 2025, Enade 2025 is an event organized by the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (Fundesa), bringing together high-level government and private sector representatives from both Guatemala and Mexico.
Guatemala for the Auto Parts Industry
In his speech at the Enade 2025 panel, González said that Guatemala has enormous opportunity and potential to participate in global value chains given its strategic location, the growing manufacturing and integration in global chains from the United States and Mexico, and its proximity to Guatemala. This is especially true for the automotive and auto parts industry, he added.
“We have in the last four years an increase of 44% of the automotive industry in the region,” González said. “If we take into account and coordinate the efforts to generate and add value to infrastructure, logistics, and technical capacity, Guatemala has enormous potential to become an important regional player and a fundamental partner within the auto parts industry.”
The panelists discussed the benefits and added value of products in the automobile industry and highlighted that without adequate energy, without adequate coordination between public and private sectors, without adequate logistics, and without adequate industrial planning in the region, attracting investments to a country like Guatemala is next to impossible.
The panelists also said that for the public and private sectors in Guatemala to work hand in hand in such a successful way, like Yazaki, for example, will depend on the energy that the country has and the industrial sectors, as well as opportunities, to attract the much-needed investments to expand the production capabilities in Guatemala.
“There are many countries in the world that are competing with Guatemala to attract investments from the automotive sector,” González added. “The lack of certainty in the justice system, in the institutions, politically, at times, can cause us to lose ground and even reduce the opportunities that we have at this time. We need to work with predictability and certainty; we need to improve competitiveness.”
Guatemalan Strategy to Attract Investment for Electronics and Semiconductor Manufacturing
In the future, the focus for the Guatemalan strategy to attract investment is on medium to long-term goals and will include the electronics industry, service centers, and the health sector, said Valeria Prado, Deputy Minister of Investment and Competition at the Ministry of Economy.
After electronics, the service centers and the health sector could also play a key role. Guatemala could be an interesting destination for shared service centers, particularly given its workforce’s strengths in education, language skills, and customer focus. The health industry is another sector that could be found attractive in Guatemala in the medium- to long-term, given the sector’s expansion in the region.
Electronics and semiconductors have already been long recognized as a sector in which Guatemala could, and should, play an important role. Semiconductors are of particular interest, given the high degree of value added as well as the industry’s record of success in Mexico. Given the disruption of global supply chains over the past few years and the realization that semiconductor production is not nearly as diversified as other goods, the production and assembly of semiconductor chips is an area where Guatemala can truly differentiate itself and offer new value to global supply chains.
Semiconductors have been the foundation of technological innovation and will remain so in the future. Integrated into everything from household appliances to medical equipment and almost all electronic devices, the global market for semiconductors is forecasted to grow to $710 billion by 2028, from $450 billion in 2022. The production of chips is complex, with a whole range of equipment needed to design, develop, and test the chips, meaning that just about every player in the supply chain is open to working with new and innovative players in regions that can meet the industry’s high requirements when it comes to logistics, skills, incentives, and production capabilities.
“The most important thing for now is to set clear, short-term objectives, medium-term objectives, and long-term objectives,” said Deputy Minister Valeria Prado. “It is a fact that the Guatemalan strategy to attract investment is already consolidating some sectors, but we want to take it further and deepen these with more added value and longer-term visions.”
The Government in Action
The Guatemalan strategy to attract investment has the support and participation of the government and a very clear direction of where it wants to take the country, from short-term, medium-term, and long-term objectives. In the short-term, the most important elements are the strengthening of traditional industries such as light manufacturing, processed foods, textiles and apparel, as well as beverages.
In the medium-term, the Guatemalan strategy to attract investment is looking into broadening horizons and attracting investment in new high technology industries such as the electronics industry, service centers, and the health sector. And for long-term objectives, Guatemala is setting its sights on high-tech and advanced manufacturing industries, including semiconductors.