Guatemala's economy had been humming along nicely, if not spectacularly, for the past few years of its post-civil war recovery, with gross domestic product (GDP) accelerating from 2.6% in 2005 to an expected 5.6% this year. The country has been diversifying slowly away from agriculture, which still accounts for 50% of its economy, into service industries, such as call centres, business process outsourcing and tourism. Recently, Guatemala has been realising a host of new and lucrative opportunities that could substantially increase foreign investment and GDP, says Mario Marroquin, head of the country's investment bureau Invest in Guatemala. These include a large acceleration in mining for nickel and gold; the exploitation of oil and gas deposits found in the Pacific coast straddling the border with El Salvador; the development of alternative energies; and infrastructure. The expansion plans of Goldcorp in its Marlin silver mine will require a $4bn investment alone.
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