Central America's young, low-cost labor force will continue to support labor-intensive nearshoring, but structural constraints will remain obstacles to high-end manufacturing investments in the long term. For decades, Central America's nearshoring model has developed primarily around labor-intensive manufacturing, with proximity to the United States and preferential market access helping establish the region as an export platform for apparel, textiles, agribusiness and other manufacturing activities. The interaction between demographic structure and human capital, institutions, infrastructure and industrial ecosystems shapes the type of foreign direct investment the region can attract. For instance, Costa Rica and Panama have among the region's oldest populations, but their historically stronger institutions, higher education levels and better infrastructure enable them to offset demographic constraints and attract larger, more sophisticated investments.