Although in 2019 the arrival of tourists to Costa Rica increased 4% compared to 2018, businessmen of the sector continue to face complex procedures to open a new business and the high costs of basic services.
Data from the Directorate General of Immigration and Foreigners, said that between 2018 and 2019 the number of foreign visitors who came to the country grew by 122 thousand, from 3.01 million to 3.14 million tourists.
Raising the quality of education, eliminating excessive paperwork and generating opportunities, not threats, for people to formalize their economic activities are the main demands of the Costa Rican business sector in the run-up to 2020.
Generating more employment and strengthening the business sector while the actions of the Executive, Legislative Assembly and the Judiciary are being implemented are some of the projects outlined for the first quarter of the year, according to the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP).
Although in Costa Rica the procedures for approving new pesticides that enter the market should take a few weeks, there are processes that have not been processed for more than ten years, which prevents increasing and improving the supply of products.
The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, accumulates dozens of files that are still pending approval, including some that have been waiting for more than a decade.
The Alvarado administration announced a new platform that will serve to digitalize the process of procedures under form D2, which are used to manage studies of low environmental impact.
The platform will initially simplify the registration and tracking of D2 forms, which represents 54% of all cases. The remaining 46% of cases, of medium and high impact, will also be reviewed more thoroughly thanks to a reform of the General Regulations on Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures, explains the official statement.
As one of the measures that the Costa Rican government plans to implement is that it will no longer be necessary to have all the requirements to open a business certified, and only an affidavit will be necessary.
The government will implement a regulatory moratorium that will prevent the creation of new procedures, requirements or procedures to obtain permits, licenses or authorizations, which will apply until May 2022, according to an official source. This would be one of the guidelines that are part of the government's actions to lead the country to economic recovery.
Reducing social security contributions, lowering the price of electricity and simplifying procedures in the country are part of the changes proposed by Costa Rica's private sector to reactivate the economy.
Representatives of different productive sectors agree that immediate actions focused on improving the performance of the Costa Rican economy should be implemented.
The costs incurred by businessmen in Nicaragua, because of excessive procedures and low efficiency of foreign trade systems is 25% additional to the value of the goods, while in El Salvador and Costa Rica, amounts to 18% and 16%, respectively.
A study by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) specifies that the costs paid by businessmen in Nicaragua, because of excessive procedures and low efficiency of foreign trade systems is 25.3% additional to the value of the goods, followed by El Salvador with 18.3%, Costa Rica with 16.3%, Honduras with 15.8%, Guatemala with 14% and Panama with 9%.
Although Costa Rica has a good image abroad, businessmen in the tourism sector with investment plans face long and complex procedures in public institutions.
Businessmen from the hotel sector believe that the growth rate of the construction of tourist infrastructure would be higher if the procedures in institutions such as the National Environmental Technical Secretariat (Setena), the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity and municipalities were speeded up.
Abolishing pre-certification inspection for industrial, commercial or service establishments in Costa Rica, a proposal is being made to reduce the period for processing health permits from 91 to 7 days.
From Procomer's statement:
The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC), the Foreign Trade Promoter of Costa Rica (PROCOMER) and the Ministry of Health issued Executive Decree No.
In Costa Rica, authorities announced that the procedures to be carried out by importers of medical equipment and supplies to apply for tax exemption will be reduced in ten days.
From the Ministry of Finance statement:
San Jose, November 19th, 2018. The deadline for tax exemption procedures for companies that import medical equipment and supplies such as: gag, surgical cotton, surgical gowns, hospital beds, among others, will be reduced in ten days, due to the collaboration between the Ministries of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) and Treasury to expedite this process.
Reducing trade barriers and procedures, increasing legal security and improving productive infrastructure are part of the changes required by the business sector for the region's economic development.
In Guatemala, the 12th Ibero-American Business Meeting is held, in which the private sector presents proposals to face the current challenges and generate opportunities for the countries of the region.
28% of the SMEs in Costa Rica stated that obtaining a municipal permit to start operations was the most complex procedure, while another 17% says that the process of registering with the department of Taxation is the most onerous.
According to theIII National Survey of MSMEs, prepared by the State University at a Distance (UNED) and the University of Costa Rica (UCR), for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) obtaining a municipal patent for operation and registering as a new taxpayer, are the two procedures that most affect the start up of their operations.
In only 30 of the 81 municipalities that grant construction permits in Costa Rica, all of the necessary procedures to obtain a permit can be performed through the official web platform.
The Federated Association of Engineers and Architects (CFIA) stated that in the analysis carried out during the first semester of the year, which included all of the municipalities in the country, what stands out is that of all the communes, construction permits are digital and physical in 40, 100% digital in 30 and in 11 there are only physical.
Due to the excess of procedures that developers have to carry out in order to realise a construction project in Costa Rica, it is estimated that some 5 thousand homes fail to be built every year.
The Costa Rican Chamber of Construction presented a study entitled "Economic contribution of the construction sector and the impact of the excess of procedures", and one of its main conclusions was that the bureaucratic processes in the country "... can generate average delays of 7.4 months in private construction projects and 13.5 months in social interest housing."
Business leaders in Costa Rica disapprove of the management of outgoing President Luis Guillermo Solís, who in four years was not able to propose convincing solutions to serious problems such as the fiscal deficit.
From a statement issued by the UCCAEP:
April 26, 2018.The business sector, represented by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP), gives a score for the four years of President Luis Guillermo Solis's management of 4.9 out of 10.