More news from Honduras ZEDE

Source (en español): http://www.laprensa.hn/Secciones-Principales/Honduras/Apertura/Pena-Blanca-y-Suyapa-serian-las-primeras-ciudades-modelos#.UcMnGNjLLqs

According to laprensa.hn, who seem to have direct access to the law text, as they quote precise articles inside of it, here are some more details:

ZEDE government:

- The ZEDE are allowed to stablish their own regulation and controls over any transport system that gets inside their territory.
- The ZEDE can expropiate owners for development reasons (pending specific regulation from the ZEDE).
- The ZEDE will be governed by a technical secretary, elected by a committee for the adoption of better practices, integrated by 21 people from private sector, academy and public sector of known honourableness, leadership, executive ability and international prestige.
- The ZEDE regulation establishes fundamental rights and duties of their citizens, administrative structure, technical secretary faculties, audit mechanisms, conflict resolution and internal security (no further details).

 ZEDE courts:

- About internal security, law stablishes that the ZEDE are special jurisdictions and will have their own autonomous and independent courts, competent in all matters subject to compulsory arbitrage (So, their own penal courts?).
- Courts will be created by Judiciary Power through the Judiciary Council after proposition by technical secretary and will operate under anglosaxon common law tradition.
- Judges will be nominated too by the Judiciary Council from a list propossed by the better practices commtitee.

ZEDE fiscal policy:

- The ZEDE controls their own fiscal policy and sets taxes percentages under stablished parameters (below).
- No regulation or exchange control inside the ZEDE. Exchange means must be freely convertible (So, no monetary controlls at all).
- The ZEDE can set their own customs different from the rest of the territory.
- ISR (Tax over earnings) can't exceed 12%.
- Tax over Juridic Subjects (Business, asociations, etc.) can't exceed 16%.
- IVA (VAT) can't exceed 5%.
- Unused Property and Built Property taxes fixed freely by the ZEDE.

Employment:

- Business can't have less than 90% honduran employees (hopefully this will change in the future).
- Honduran employees must earn at least 85% of the salaries from those business.


I still don't have direct access tot he law text (I'm requesting it around), but so far sounds reasonable, except for the employment rules, as there are probably not enough qualified hondurans for all the potential qualified jobs needed. Or maybe it will drive investors to educate honduran employees.

On a side note, I've read the 105 article of the Honduras Constitution and it states that no foreigner can buy land closer than 40km from coast or borders. That explains the current ZEDE locations, I guess, but as Mexico just changed a similar constitutional article to help investment, it might happen in Honduras too if we see the ZEDE take off.