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.
President Solis has signed a decree declaring of public interest the "promotion, development and formalization of businesses in the social solidarity economy", at the same time as a bill with the same concept is not advancing in the legislature.
When the bill on the Social Solidarity Economy was presented in July 2015, theprivate sector expressed doubtsabout a concept that"... represents unfair competition against formal private companies and contributes nothing to the serious fiscal problems of the country, because it reduces the question of tax collections."
Once again the Presidency has spoken out to calm investors denying the insinuations of a Deputy Minister related to opening up the discussion on the free trade zone regime.
According to an article in Crhoy.com, the Deputy Minister of Labour, Harold Villegas, mentioned in the framework of the International Forum of Social Solidarity Economy that "as a society we should discuss the activities that should or should not be tax-free and although free zones functioned well in a moment of history, it's time to move towards a system of greater tax justice and for a more open discussion to take place. "
Free parking in Panama and heavy trains running through the streets of the capital of Costa Rica, are examples of some of the strange decisions taken by their governments.
EDITORIAL
While the rest of the world discourages the use of private cars as a means of transportation, increasing the costs of their use by setting, among other methods, high costs for parking in urban areas, in Panama, whose capital city suffers like any other city from the growing problems of congestion on the roads, the National Assembly recently passed a law that mandates free parking in "commercial parking lots of any kind or public offices where purchases are made, goods acquired or any services received. "
The productive sector is asking the Solís government not lift the ban on the labor law allowing the suspension of essential services during worker strikes.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations in the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP):
The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations in the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP) has requested that the President, Luis Guillermo Solís, not lift the ban on the Reform of the Code Labour, record 15,990; on the eve of Saturday December 13, the expiry date of the four-year term for the project.
In Costa Rica the main political operator of the new government has stated that from now on they are paying attention "not only to the productive business sector, but also to the social sector."
EDITORIAL
An editorial in Elfinanciero.com analyzes statements made by the Minister of the Presidency, Melvin Jimenez, who in a recent interview given to that newspaper noted that "...
Starting October the private sector and government will be working together to implement measures to improve the competitiveness and productivity of the economy.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Business Sector (UCCAEP):
The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprises (UCCAEP) and the Executive have agreed to the formation of a council to facilitate the coordination and monitoring of public policies on competitiveness, innovation and employment.
The academic corporatism which has come to power in Costa Rica brings a "vision of the world of the Social Democrats of the sixties and seventies."
An analysis carried out by Juan Carlos Hidalgo on his blog on Elfinancierocr.com on the proposed Costa Rican state budget points to a decalogue of macroeconomic horrors that besides contradicting election promises on cost containment and austerity, show an outdated vision of the new government regarding the alleged benefits of increased public spending in the functioning of a modern economy.
An announcement has been made that operation permits will be extended to 18 companies already operating under the scheme and licenses granted to four new firms who will enter the scheme in the short term.
According to indications made by the president Luis Guillermo Solis to AmeliaRueda.com, 22 decrees have been signed which "... relate to expanding and awarding new licenses to these companies ...
The initiative for a National Strategy for Employment and Production created by the new Solís administration shows that there is still a belief that public officials know how to produce wealth.
EDITORIAL
The Costa Rica entrepreneurs' opinion is convincing: the Union of Chambers states that "employment is not generated by decree, but through policies which improve the business climate" ...
The productive private sector is signalling a lack of dialogue and clarity as well as conflicting messages from the authorities of the new Costa Rican government, which is also proposing laws that discourage investment.
An increase of more than 4% in the salaries of public officials, lack of action over lowering the cost of energy, lifting barriers which generate legal uncertainty, and initiatives to increase the tax burden on the formal productive sectors are the issues concerning entrepreneurs in Costa Rica.
The absence of a long-term waste management policy is preventing the ability to take advantage of a sector which could generate significant business opportunities.
An Editorial on Nacion.com notes that "...The reasons for this lethargy, in the face of a problem that is about to overwhelm us and could be an important source of income, range from financing to lack of technological alternatives.
There are concerns related to lack of definition in key areas and the Solis administration's true implementation capacity is being questioned.
The guild of private companies has also criticized the fact that they were not included in the development of the employment strategy to be presented in the next few days by President Solis.
For example, on the subject of electricity tariffs, Mario Montero, vice president of the Costa Rican Chamber of the Food Industry (Cacia), told Crhoy.com that "... 'there are now too many diagnoses and there are issues where political calculations should be left out of the picture, and the industry wants to participate in working groups' ... 'inaction is choking us and postponing decisions for 18 or 24 months is not acceptable.' "
Importers are complaining that the "Regístrelo" (RegisterIt) digital system is malfunctioning, and that it is not possible to carry out the steps manually, generating delays of up to five months in these processes.
Although the official announcement of the implementation of the new platform emphasized that one of the benefits was the reduction of timeframes, the import sector is criticizing delays of up to five months in processing health records granted by the Ministry of Health. Added to this is the fact that the system was made obligatory, there was not a period for improvements and now there are no other official instruments to use to register products.
The president-elect has announced that it is a priority of his government to overhaul the country's road infrastructure, which will require investments of over $10 billion.
Costa Rica has a back log of 20 years worth of work in implementing the necessary road infrastructure to support the country's development.
With a geography that requires a lot of bridges, there are far fewer than necessary, and those few bridges that do exist are old and too narrow and have not been maintained. The highways are not able to deal with the rapid growth in the number of cars on the road and do not meet the needs of productive sectors, causing loss of competitiveness with the region and the world. Urban transport in the metropolitan area around the capital San José is terrible, requiring urgent solutions in terms of public transport.
Recognized Brazilian company of backhoe loaders, telescopic, articulated and other types of cranes looking for companies interested in representing the brand and distributing their machinery in Central America and Mexico. The company manufactures and sells telescopic,...