The manual orders the process in eight steps: (1) choose municipality and model — own building, park lease, ZDEEP or free zone; (2) incorporate an S.A. and register it with the Mercantile Registry, the tax authority (SAT) and social security (IGSS) (advisers cite ~2–3 weeks for mercantile registration); (3) qualify under Decree 29-89 at the Ministry of the Economy (MINECO) — statutory ≤30 days for the opinion plus ≤15 days for the resolution (arts. 21-22), 30–45 business days per adviser; (4) environmental instrument at the Ministry of the Environment (MARN) per the listed-activities schedule of Governmental Accord 137-2016, license issued and delivered within ≤5 days of the approving resolution (art. 60); (5) power connection (EEGSA in the southern corridor) and water (well with municipal license plus MARN); (6) import machinery and inputs under temporary admission, with import duty (DAI) and VAT suspended for one year; (7) hire and run payroll at the CE1/CE2 maquila minimum plus employer charges; (8) export to the United States duty-free by meeting the CAFTA-DR yarn-forward rule. Timelines drawn from advisers or guides are not published law and remain to be verified in the data phase.

Figures

Plazo legal calificación 29-89≤30 días de dictamen + ≤15 días de resoluciónDec. 29-89 arts. 21-22, texto consolidado

Plazo de licencia ambiental tras resolución≤5 díasAG 137-2016 art. 60, texto 2016

Admisión temporal (suspensión DAI+IVA)1 añoDec. 29-89 art. 12 vigente

Adviser timelines (mercantile registration, 30–45 business days, 30 days for the power connection) are not published law

The practical range runs from roughly 130–150 operators (a niche plant) to 8,000–10,000 (an anchor mega-plant). Named benchmarks: Koramsa produced 250,000 pairs of jeans a week with 9,000 workers in early 2008; Hansae (Michatoya, starting 2026) projects 500,000 m² and 8,000–10,000 jobs; ShinWon (Michatoya) 250,000 m² and 4,000 jobs; KOA Modas had more than 750 workers when it closed in February 2025; a Korean textile company in Villa Nueva (announcement of 26 Nov 2020; the report does not publish the name) invested US$20 M (about Q150 M) for roughly 130 jobs in fabrics that supply other factories in the region. The sector as a whole exceeds 150,000 jobs, around half of them women (dossier 08 §1.1).

Figures

Koramsa250,000 jeans/semana, 9,000 trabajadoresinicios de 2008

Hansae / ShinWon (proyectado)8,000–10,000 / 4,000 empleosanuncio jun-2025

KOA Modas al cierre>750 trabajadoresfeb-2025

Textilera coreana en Villa NuevaUS$20 M (~Q150 M), ~130 empleosanuncio 26-nov-2020

Hansae and ShinWon are projections; Koramsa comes from an indexed extract

Liztex (Compañía Industrial Liztex S.A., Amatitlán, founded 5 Aug 1973) offers spinning, woven and knitted fabric, and mechanical and chemical finishing; it states some 2 million meters a month and fabrics for shirting, denim, flannel, gabardine, poplin, jersey and towelling, with Cotton USA, BCI and Lenzing certifications. All of this comes from the company's own site (tier c, promotional) and from its EMIS profile; it is not independently verified.

Figures

Capacidad declarada Liztex~2 millones de metros / messitio corporativo, 2026

Fundación Liztex5-ago-1973—

Data from the supplier's own site (tier c); prices not public

The region's largest textile groups have built filament and synthetic yarn capacity of 25,000 tonnes a year in Guatemala, with product exported to the United States for brands such as Adidas and Nike (Prensa Libre). The cluster covers spinning, weaving, garment assembly, printing, finishing and packing — so-called "full package" — with 275 exporting companies in the ecosystem (FASH455 / AGEXPORT Hoy). New investment in the sector is shifting towards spinning and fabric, not garment assembly alone.

Figures

Capacidad de filamento e hilo sintético25,000 t/añonota de prensa, sin año de corte

Empresas exportadoras en el ecosistema275sin vintage fijado

Press figures with no vintage established

The quantitative split between local and imported inputs does not exist in public sources (a gap inherited from dossier 08). Sector practice, according to Prensa Libre: local fabric and yarn are growing; trims and findings are mostly imported. The trade association's directory and statistics sit with VESTEX (AGEXPORT's Apparel and Textile Commission), vestex.com.gt/estadisticas.php; the detailed data is not public and the association has to be contacted directly.

VESTEX's detailed data is not public; the local/imported split does not exist

The existing cluster sits in the metropolitan area and its southern and western corridor. The MSICG table (MINECO data, as of 1 Sep 2011) counts active 29-89 textile firms by municipality: Mixco 74, Villa Nueva 36, Palín 25, Amatitlán 12, San Miguel Petapa 5, out of 278 in total; cumulatively over 1990–2011, Mixco 254 and Villa Nueva 89. Sae-A runs apparel plants in Mixco and Villa Nueva; Sae A International S.A. lists its address at 1a. Avenida La Brigada 13-30, zone 7 of Mixco, Colonia San Ignacio. Villa Nueva has the Consigna free zone (Granjas Italia) and sits on the CA-9 Sur corridor towards Puerto Quetzal; San Miguel Petapa hosts the Multinova class-A warehouse complex (Grupo Rosul). The reason is the metropolitan labor pool (metropolitan urban open unemployment 3.9%, average income Q3,901, ENEIC Q2 2025) and decades of workers trained in sewing. MSICG places the 29-89 textile concentration in five departments: Guatemala, Escuintla, Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango and Quetzaltenango.

Figures

Empresas textiles 29-89 vigentes en Mixco74 (acumulado 1990–2011: 254)corte 1-sep-2011

Empresas textiles 29-89 vigentes en Villa Nueva36 (acumulado 1990–2011: 89)corte 1-sep-2011

Empresas textiles 29-89 vigentes en Palín / Amatitlán / San Miguel Petapa25 / 12 / 5corte 1-sep-2011

Total empresas textiles 29-89 vigentes278corte 1-sep-2011

Desempleo abierto urbano metropolitano / ingreso promedio3.9% / Q3,901ENEIC T2 2025

Municipality counts are as of 2011; no current public register of plants by municipality exists

Chimaltenango is one of the five departments where 29-89 textile firms concentrated (1990–2011) according to MSICG; the claim that it has "cotton and wool spinning mills" does not appear in that PDF and was left to be verified after the 2026-08-22 audit. Sacatepéquez appears on EEGSA's list of the most industrialized departments in its service area, on the CA-1 interoceanic corridor. Both lie outside the department of Guatemala, so the CE2 maquila minimum applies (Q3,221.10 monthly base in 2026, about 5.5% below CE1), and Chimaltenango is 50–60 km from the capital. There is no register of plants by municipality; the dossier suggests requesting one from VESTEX.

Figures

Salario mínimo maquila CE2 base mensualQ3,221.102026 (AG 256-2025)

Diferencia CE2 vs CE1≈ −5.5%2026

No register of plants by municipality was found; "spinning mills" in Chimaltenango remain to be verified

Palín (Escuintla) is the sector's new bet. The Michatoya Pacífico ZDEEP has as its anchors Hansae — US$25 M, 500,000 m², 8,000–10,000 projected jobs, start-up 2026 — and ShinWon — US$12.5 M, 250,000 m², 4,000 jobs — both announced in June 2025; together they add up to 12,000–14,000 projected jobs (figures verified in audit against Prensa Libre, 27 June 2025). Palín already counted 25 active 29-89 textile firms as of the 2011 cut-off, according to MSICG. The advantages the dossier identifies: the CE2 maquila minimum wage, the ZDEEP tax benefit (Michatoya authorized by the tax authority (SAT) since April 2021) and the Palín–Escuintla motorway running straight to Puerto Quetzal, some 60 km from the capital.

Figures

Hansae en MichatoyaUS$25 M, 500,000 m², 8,000–10,000 empleosanuncio jun-2025, arranque 2026

ShinWon en MichatoyaUS$12.5 M, 250,000 m², 4,000 empleosanuncio jun-2025

Empresas textiles 29-89 vigentes en Palín25corte 1-sep-2011

Jobs are projected, not delivered; press figure

Main outstanding items: MINECO's official list of 29-89 requirements (the portal did not resolve; it includes the minimum export % and the procedure fee) and the unit's current name; the MARN schedule category for apparel and the typical cost and time of the environmental instrument; the 2020–2026 status of Sae-A's polyester complex and its amount (US$400 M vs ~US$200 M); the geo-referenced register of plants by municipality (VESTEX); EEGSA's BTDp/MTDp tariff schedule and the statutory connection deadline; well and water-license costs in Villa Nueva, Chimaltenango and Palín; lease or sale prices for industrial buildings at Michatoya, Tecnopark, Zeta and Multinova (all private); the text of Governmental Accord 256-2025 in the official gazette (Diario de Centro América); whether Bono 14 and the aguinaldo are subject to IGSS contributions; the vintage of the 79.69% yarn-forward figure and Guatemala's position among US suppliers (OTEXA); the 2022 MINECO PDF of 29-89 companies; the ocean lead time Puerto Quetzal→United States; the extension route for temporary admission; the Koramsa data from Clothesource; and Grupo Karim's in Guatemala. Proposed indicators: minimum_wage_maquila_ce1_2026/ce2_2026 (MINTRAB, annual), maquila_operator_cost_loaded_gtq (own calculation, annual), apparel_exports_usd (Banguat, monthly), apparel_yarn_forward_share_pct (OTEXA/USITC, annual), legal_2989_qualified_firms (MINECO, annual), apparel_employment_igss (IGSS, annual), mineco_2989_resolution_days (to be requested), zdeep_apparel_jobs (ZOLIC/press, event-driven) and us_apparel_imports_gtm_usd (OTEXA, monthly).

A list of gaps; no new figures