JAPAN and the WORLD Magazine OCTOBER ISSUE 2015 #Issue 13 | Page 80

HONDURAS
VISITS
HONDURAS
STRIVES TO FINALIZE ITS PROJECTS
ホンジュラス、 プロジェクトの完遂に奮闘
Japan and the World magazine attended a high level meeting between H.E. Juan Orlando
Hernández Alvarado, Honduras President and Dr. Akihiko Tanaka*, President of JICA to discuss
a further cooperation between two countries.
本紙は、ホンジュラス共和国のフアン・オルランド・エルナンデス・アルバラード大統領とJICAの田中
明彦理事長が二国間のさらなる協力についての話し合いを行ったハイレベル会合に同席しました。
*Mr. Kitaoko Shinichi is the new President of JICA since October 2015.
ECONOMY
FACT
Industry:
Sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing.
Agriculture:
Bananas, coffee, citrus, beef,
timber, shrimp.
Exports:
Coffee, bananas, shrimp,
lobster, meat.
Honduras,
in Central
America, is
mountainous and
forested country. The
largely mestizo population
speaks Spanish, with English common
on the northern coast and Bay Islands.
— Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado:
Well, thank you very much for allowing us to
come here and talk with you. JICA has left a
mark that cannot be erased.
We have been talking with Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, and found in him a great
interest in consolidating the relationship
between Japan and Central America. He also
mentioned a series of ideas and compromises
the government of Japan could make happen
through JICA. For us the revitalization of
hydroelectric plants and dams in the Lindo
River and Cañaveral is very important. Roberto
Ordóñez, the Minister of Energy, is present
today to mobilize the implementation of these
projects, which are vital for Honduras. The
support for the project regarding Highway
CA-6 is also equally important to us. Honduras
is also launching the concept “Centro Logístico
de Honduras Para Las Americas,” to link the
Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. Right now we are
79 // OCTOBER 2015
building a highway, and we are on a concession
in Puerto Cortez, which is the first public-
private partnership in Honduras. Compared to
the Atlantic, the Pacific side is underdeveloped.
Honduras’ Pacific has frontiers with Nicaragua
and El Salvador, and this site in Amapala has
a depth of 25 meters at low tide. Therefore, it
has a capacity for Post-Panamax vessels. This
highway is already under construction, and in
one year it will reach the Pacific. It’s 391km
long. We are also in the process of undertaking
a study looking into the feasibility of another
port in the Atlantic, Puerto de Castilla. It’s
also 25 meters deep, and is the second deepest
place on the Latin American Atlantic coast. The
distance between Puerto Castilla to Amapala
is 420km. At the moment, Panama is working
on the amplification of its canal, and once it’s
done, they will be able to cover up to 20% of
the shipping demand between both oceans.
These are maritime cargo movements from all
around the world, and a large number of them
pass through Central America. It is necessary to
think of solutions so we can have an alternative.
It is for this reason that we have considered
the “Centro Logístico de Honduras Para Las
Americas” as an alternative for the Americas
and the world. Because of this we already have
the feasibility study for a logistics center in this
region that could help make the handling of
cargo going to, and coming from, Nicaragua
and El Salvador more efficient. Between these
three countries we want to make this zone an
important logistics zone. However, there’s
a little detail: Amapala is an island, and it
requires a 2km bridge to link it to the mainland.
We want to request JICA, and we talked about
this with Prime Minister Abe yesterday. The
other topic to discuss is that Honduras is one
of the five countries in the world most affected
by climate change. We are tackling this issue
on different fronts. One of them is relocating
families who live in the zones near the coast.
Another aspect is how to manage rainwater so
it does not cause floods.
We are thinking about opening small, medium
and big dams to administrate rainfall that can
be used for irrigation and human consumption.
In this aspect we have found out that Japan
conducted a study decades ago on the
Choluteca River’s drainage basin. This river
flows from Francisco Morazán to Choluteca
in the Pacific. We want to use that water
to irrigate certain areas of the country and
improve our agricultural production and also
our water consumption, particularly that of
the capital city. The majority of people living in
Honduras’ capital don’t have immediate access
to water. Honduras also announced adopting
Japan’s model of digital television. Therefore,
we asked Prime Minister Abe and the Minister
of Communications how Japan could help
us expand our digital television in a way that
does not only cover its traditional format, but
also in mobile services to incorporate them
into education, commerce, and to connect
the country in terms of disaster prevention.
Another topic is that Honduras, just like the
rest of Central America, Colombia and Mexico,
has in the past two decades faced a great
security impact from South American drug
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