INSECURITY is still the main factor preventing the arrival of larger flows of foreign direct investment in Central America say entrepreneurs and, despite the benefits and incentives of all kinds offered by governments to encourage the establishment of foreign companies, as long as violence and insecurity is not tackled in a more effective manner, investment flows will continue to dwindle.

Eduardo Montúfar, a Panamanian auditor at the firm MGI, said "... 'For an investor security outweighs tax incentives."

Edenilson Rodriguez of El Salvador, said in an article on Prensalibre.com that "... the promotion of development laws in each country in the region does not cover the dimension which reflects the image of insecurity, therefore investment decisions repeatedly go to countries where the perception [of security] is high .... Panama and Nicaragua have increased public safety perceptions, but this is not so in the Northern Triangle countries, where the security is perceived as low and the situation risky."