Transparency in purchases made by the State is the main barrier to combating corruption of public officials and the only way to ensure fair competition between suppliers.
In all Central American countries resistance to single platforms for government procurement is headed by public officials who thrive on the old systems of administration which kept processes and decisions regarding expenditure in the dark.
If a business owner is not able to solve problems he goes bankrupt and has no income, whereas government workers continue to get a salary, later a pension... and always sleep through the night...
Editorial
The President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, now days away from the end of her term, criticized "...unions and employers for opposing key works in the province of Limón."
The Costa Rican government will ask the International Court of Justice to determine the border between the two countries in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Both countries have not reached an agreement over the delimitation of their maritime boundaries, and the recent decision by Nicaragua to tender exploration and exploitation of oil in Caribbean waters has alarmed the government of Costa Rica which has denounced Nicaragua for offering such licenses in areas that Costa Ricans consider belongs to them.
The Pacific Alliance has become the largest market in Latin America and an attractive investment for companies in third party countries who want to use it.
"In 2012, the Gross Domestic Product of the Pacific Partnership (AP by its initials in Spanish) grew by 5%, two points higher than that recorded by the global economy. FDI remained at an acceptable rhythm, with $71.045 billion, of which over $30 billion was destined for Chile.
The corruption of government officials and its negative influence on the competitiveness of economies will not stop as long as there rulers who celebrate being "a bit corrupt."
EDITORIAL
The 2013 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International has reconfirmed that all of the Central American countries are seriously "sick with corruption."
The Latin America-China Business Summit was held on November 26th and 27th in Costa Rica with more than 1,200 employers in regions with growing commercial exchanges.
Chinese and Latin American entrepreneurs gathered for two days for business meetings, contributing to increased trade in Latin America with the Asian country, which is already a commercial destination of prime importance for this region.
Problems with boundary lines or over territories in Guanacaste are not an issue for Nicaraguan businessmen operating in Costa Rica.
An article in Nacion.com reports that Simmel Ortegarrieta, son of Milton Ortegarrieta, the founder of the pharmacy El Socorro, in the capital district of Pavas, states that "Political conflicts are unfortunate situations that occur between Managua and San Jose more than between the inhabitants of the countries. "
The Pacific Alliance is now operating and producing results which are favorable to the development of the nations which compose it, and it is a natural environment for Central American countries to be integrated into.
Editorial
The very apt comparison made by analyst Andres Oppenheimer between the economic blocs Mercosur-Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela-, and the Pacific Alliance-Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru (soon to also include Costa Rica) - shows the major conceptual differences between one group and another, and the concrete results generated for the development of their people.
Costa Rica will host the sixth China - Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Business Summit, to be held in October 2013.
The summit organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) seeks to strengthen trade relations between the two regions.
"The Ministry of Foreign Trade said in a statement that the summit "’is the business forum with the greatest amount of trade and investment between Latin America and the Asian giant and attracts high-level representatives from government, business and the academic sector’ ", reported Prensalibre.com.
At a meeting in Honduras, the region's heads of state agreed to discuss the decriminalization of drugs.
The initiative was proposed by Otto Perez Molina, president of Guatemala, who emphasized the need to seek "alternative mechanisms" to combat drug trafficking.
The leaders of Panama, El Salvador and Honduras said they were against decriminalization, but were open to discussing the issue.
Funes and Martinelli have maintained high levels of approval from their countrymen, while Ortega is recovering, Colom and Lobo are still low and Chinchilla is still falling.
With the first few years of presidency behind them, Mauricio Funes and Ricardo Martinelli are the leaders in the area with the most approval from their citizens: The first for having faced difficult opposition, and for his education, personality and charisma.
The trade Minister of Costa Rica said that the "better governance process" in SIECA, initiated by Yolanda Mayora, had "raised antibodies" at the regional institution.
There is no doubt that the economic future of Central America and the possibilities of development of its people are linked to regional integration, starting with all which refers to the free exchange of goods and services and the ability to be presented to the world as a single block.
The presidents of 5 Central American nations supported the readmission of Honduras into the Central American Integration System (SICA).
The “Special Declaration on Honduras”, signed by the presidents, also proposes speeding up Honduras’ return to the Organization of American States (OAS) and calls on the country to respect the basic rights of its citizens.
Mauricio Funes has an approval rating of 76%; he is followed by Ricardo Martinelli (66%), Laura Chinchilla (64%), Porfirio Lobo (60%), Alvaro Colom (50%) and Daniel Ortega (38%).
CID-Gallup unveiled its Central American public opinion poll for July 2010. It remarks that Funes remains the president with the highest approval ratings, and that Honduran president Lobo slipped from the third to the fourth spot, mainly because he is disliked by opposition and unregistered voters.