Over the past three decades, Honduras has conducted numerous analyses of labor markets, productive sectors, and value chains across goods and services. These studies have been undertaken by national and international universities, public institutions, international cooperation agencies, multilateral financial organizations, as well as national and local governments. Such information is crucial for the formulation of public policies that ensure alignment between educational offerings and labor market demands, thereby promoting effective labor insertion based on the competencies and skills required by current and emerging sectors. These trends pose significant challenges for countries with low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capita income; however, the demographic dividend—characterized by a growing young population—represents an unparalleled opportunity to educate citizens who can respond to the demands of future societies.

The sectors and subsectors with the highest concentration and growth potential, which should be prioritized in national strategies, are identified through value chain analysis, enabling the examination of economic structures in terms of productivity and employability. In this regard, several value chains featured in the country's economic development plans include business services (e.g., call centers, BPO, and software), light manufacturing (e.g., vehicle components, cables, and spare parts), textiles and apparel, coffee, and tourism. These sectors have shown sustained growth in both employment and exports and are projected to expand over the next five years. This dynamic contributes to greater economic complexity and necessitates stronger links between Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and higher education.

Key reference documents—including the 2018 McKinsey report, publications from the Central Bank of Honduras, and the MIT Economic Complexity Atlas—provide essential insights for analyzing the "product space" and reveal correlations between export growth and national development. These sources emphasize national capabilities in natural resources, infrastructure, and human capital, with a particular focus on value chain clusters.

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (2023), Honduras’s main export products include T-shirts, textiles, coffee, insulated cable, and palm oil. Product spaces cluster around agriculture, construction, electronics, metals, machinery, minerals, and textiles. Furthermore, recent and emerging trends in value chains highlight business services, tourism, coffee, palm oil, seafood, textiles, and electrical machinery as consistent areas of development over the past decade. Consequently, higher education curricula must strategically orient their programs toward these areas of value-added talent development, recognizing the pivotal role that universities play in national progress.

Keywords: Economic growth, labor force, value chains, sectors, social development.