Market Intelligence
Public Sector Guatemala

Guatemala Government Procurement

Guatecompras is the name assigned to the Information System of Contracting and Procurement, administered by the Ministry of Public Finance, created to provide greater transparency to public procurement.

For all U.S. companies interested in participating in tenders in Guatemala, they can either find a local representative or open a subsidiary in country.
 
The requirements and steps to register and register foreign branches in Guatemala are as follows:

  • Deed of incorporation and its modifications (if any) where it proves that the Company is duly registered in the country of origin.
  • Submit a certified copy of its statutes, if any, as well as any modifications, duly apostilled in its country of origin.
  • The foreign company authorizes the registration of a branch in Guatemala, the owner has to sign the legal representation, duly apostilled in its country of origin.  
  • Resolution adopted by the competent body: Legalized copy of the resolution of the Assembly, Board or of Directors.  
  • Submit to the jurisdiction of the laws of the Republic of Guatemala, which may not invoke immigration rights, withdrawal requirements, responsibility with all the assets of the company through an Affidavit.
  • Identification document of the person or persons representing the foreign company, duly apostilled in their country of origin, as well as the one that accredits them for the positions.
  • Determine the people who will be the Legal Representative and the Agent with Judicial Representation, Accountant of the Company (the latter can be made available to the company, is a Public Accountant and Auditor duly registered and active in the specialty), as well as their identification documents duly legalized.
  • Declaration of accreditation of Agent with Judicial Representation and the Legal Representative, one for each, protocolized, that is what we do and that they come from abroad duly apostilled.
  • Certified copy of the last balance sheet and profit and loss statement duly apostilled and translated into Spanish.
  • Once all the apostilled documents have been received, and translated into Spanish by a sworn translator, the documents are entered into the General Mercantile Registry of the Republic and the Mandate to the General Archive of Protocols.
  • The deadline for the registration of the Company in the country once it has submitted all documents is 30 working days.

For further information contact: antonio.prieto@trade.gov