El Salvador has emerged as the Latin American leader in trade facilitation, achieving the region’s shortest customs clearance times. According to a recent report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the country processes export customs in less than three days, significantly outperforming the regional average of up to 10 days. This milestone materializes the government’s strategic focus on cutting bureaucracy to enhance the business climate and attract foreign investment.

The OECD ranking places El Salvador at the forefront of operational efficiency, followed by nations such as Uruguay, Guatemala, and Honduras, while regional giants like Mexico and Brazil face much longer processing times. This achievement has also been validated by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which previously recognized the country’s leadership in border speed as a critical pillar for fostering market competition, innovation, and job creation.

This aggressive modernization strategy has driven tangible economic results, enabling El Salvador to close 2025 with more than $6,429 million in exports. The country consolidated new trade relationships across 60 economies across five continents and expanded the reach of 204 Salvadoran products. To support this growth, the administration has successfully simplified over 600 administrative procedures and digitized more than 200, transforming the nation’s regulatory landscape.

The economic impact was a focal point during the ThinkHuge forum, an initiative aimed at positioning North Central America’s pharmaceutical sector within the United States market. Highlighting the shift from political rhetoric to structural efficiency, Economy Minister María Luisa Hayem emphasized that these reforms redefine how business is conducted. “Our hypothesis from day one was ‘we must have all these conditions that the business sector itself has told us have been challenges in the past, and we have to improve them’ to achieve the highest level of economic growth,” Hayem stated.