I am thrilled to be able to speak with this group of mayors.
I believe that my work and yours is very similar.
I work to bring more prosperity, more security and to strengthen democracy; and I believe that you work for the same thing, only daily.
But your work is closer to the people, and you must respond directly to their needs at a municipal level.
To support development at the municipal level, you must start with the basics.
Building a solid foundation through which municipal governments generate and manage their revenue more transparently and efficiently.
Initiatives supported by AMHON, such as the one we are celebrating today, help municipal governments to grow, generating more revenue and more jobs.
Many mayors have told me that when people from their communities migrate, some family members are left alone and require more services and resources to be cared for.
More jobs translate to fewer people who feel compelled to migrate, fewer families separated, and better service delivery of services by the municipality.
Your Excellency President of Honduras, Iris Xiomara Castro
Tomas Vaquero, Minister of Governance, Justice and Decentralization
Edmundo Orellana, Minister of Transparency and Fight Against Corruption
Nelson Castellanos, President of AMHON
Ricardo Cálix, Mayor of Tela
Mayors being recognized today.
Honored guests.
The importance of these tax plans (planes de arbitrio) is enormous!
Their function is not only so that municipalities can increase their revenues, although the mayors may agree with me that this is very important.
They are also a critical factor in the municipalities bid to be upgraded in category enabling them to receive greater funds transfer.
These increased resources can be used by Municipalities to meet the needs of its people.
Our history with AMHON goes back many years.
We have supported its decentralization efforts and the process of transfers to the municipalities.
We believe that permanent and impactful changes are achieved at the local level.
That is why we seek to strengthen local governments and improve the processes that energize local private sector.
Our efforts are aimed at promoting local economic development and strengthening the business environment.
The recently signed agreement between AMHON and the Ministry of Transparency will improve government controls to increase transparency and use digital tools for procurement processes.
I would like to highlight the commitment of the mayors from the fifteen municipalities that participated in this new initiative.
In this first phase, key municipal processes to increase business activity, such as obtaining business licenses and construction permits, were simplified.
Thanks to these efforts, we believe that more efficient and transparent processes will benefit 19,000 companies and will create at least 4,000 new jobs.
Seven of the participating municipalities were able to move up one category. Now they are going for better projects for their communities.
I invite other municipalities to join these efforts and hand in hand with AMHON, replicate these achievements and modernize and modernize their tax plans.
President Castro, we will continue support AMHON so that all the 298 municipalities in Honduras have a tax plan that promotes transparency and efficiency and facilitates investment from the local private sector.
This will allow us to see more prosperity, more security, and a stronger democracy in each Honduran municipality.
Thank you very much.
