Although the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have been relaxed, consumers continue to show signs of mistrust in the current situation, behavior that could put pressure downward on spending on products and services considered to be discretionary.
In 2020, when the effects of the pandemic that caused the spread of covid-19 began to become evident, it was anticipated that consumer habits would change, since in a complicated economic scenario full of uncertainty, people would be more careful when spending.
Although in Central America the period of mandatory confinement has been exceeded, it is still a priority for consumers in the region to spend their free time in their homes and to devote themselves to household cleaning and home cooking.
It has been six months since the first cases of covid-19 were detected in the region. When the outbreaks began, governments chose to subject consumers to strict household quarantines, a measure that affected not only the economy but also people's behavior in the medium term.
The abrupt change in consumer habits forced companies to digitalize their operations and sales, but the challenges do not stop there, as companies will have to implement effective logistics systems to reach their customers.
In terms of quality, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador are the countries in the region with the best road infrastructure, while Costa Rica and Guatemala continue to lag behind.
The Global Competitiveness Index, elaborated by Deloitte, measures the characteristics of 140 economies of the world in different areas, among which the analysis of the connectivity and quality of the road infrastructure of the countries stands out.
The mergers and acquisitions being reported in Central America are largely because not all companies in the region are willing to make the heavy investments that the transition to 5G technology will require.
The most recent register of the sale of assets of one of the Central American competitors is the case of Telefónica, which on January 24 reported that for $648 million it sold to América Móvil all the shares of Telefónica Guatemala and 99.3% of Telefónica El Salvador.
In El Salvador, consultancy began to structure the project to install a lighting and video surveillance system on 140 kilometers of roads in four regions.
From the Fomilenio II statement:
FOMILENIO II and Deloitte Consulting S.L.U. signed the order to start the consultancy to structure the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) lighting and video surveillance project.
An announcement has been made that transition to compliance by financial institutions with the conditions established by law will be carried over to the years 2014 and 2015.
The Treasury Department of the United States, through the inland revenue service (IRS) has announced that it will take into account the "good faith" of financial institutions outside the United States who will have to make adaptations in order to comply with the law and will not issue penalties for delays between 2014 and 2015.
Costa Rica is the regional leader in 4G data consumption through mobile devices and 4G networks.
America Movil (Claro) and Telefonica (Movistar) agree that Costa Rica is the country with the highest data traffic in Central America, this is because it is the only country that does not charge for downloading data, but rather by the speed offered by providers.
Stories about companies who were once prosperous and now no longer exist can help us avoid making mistakes in our own companies which may lead to their demise.
Lack of leadership and not adapting to change are the main reasons that many companies fail.
Ana Cristina Sandoval in her article in Elfinancierocr.com reviews several companies which have now disappeared from Costa Rica and writes about her interview with Federico Chavarria, consulting partner with Deloitte on the subject.
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