April 2008: Nieuwsflits El Salvador
From Handelswijzer Midden-Amerika van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Ambassade te Costa Rica
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El Salvador to implement national sanitation agenda
El Salvador's government is making sanitation a national priority and increasing coverage throughout the country. A UN regional report found that only 81 of El Salvador's 262 municipalities have sewerage systems. In addition, only 3% of the country's wastewater is treated before being discharged into natural waters. El Salvador’s water institution, Anda, is working on two simultaneous fronts to improve access to sanitation; carrying out pilot programs to build wastewater treatment plants in rural areas and a feasibility study for two mega plants for San Salvador, which would process 70% of the city's black waters. The UN Latinosan report recommends that the country invest around US$ 12 billion in wastewater treatment and solid waste management. Opportunities for Dutch sanitation companies.
AES acquires landfill gas project in El Salvador
The AES Corporation (US) announced the acquisition of a landfill gas to renewable energy project in Nejapa, El Salvador that is projected to generate an average of 400,000 Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) annually over the next 20 years. The company will install and operate energy generation equipment to provide up to 25 MW of renewable energy from the capture and combustion of methane.
TACA Airline Company sees 15% revenue growth
El Salvador-based airline TACA sees 2008 revenues up 15 % to $1.1 billion as solid passenger growth in Central and South America offsets flat or lower traffic from the United States. TACA expects that passenger growth next year will come down to between 10 and 15 percent from the 20 percent the airline has seen in past years. Fuel for TACA represents 35 percent of costs, and the company was hedging jet fuel to lower costs but sees very tough times ahead.
El Salvador and Costa Rica sign cooperation agreement
Costa Rica and El Salvador signed an agreement that would see both countries starting to cooperate with each other on tourism, technology, regional integration and trade. El Salvador’s president Antonio Saca visited Costa Rica to discuss the new deal with President Arias. The deal will involve Costa Rica helping El Salvador in developing their sustainable tourism programs whilst El Salvador will return the favour by helping the Costa Rican government out with technological issues and relationship building with small businesses. El Salvador plays host to the European Union next week as countries from the Central Americas meet with the EU over a trade agreement deal. This is the third meeting between the two parties with the last meeting held in Brussels, Belgium, a few months back.
