Political uncertainty, bureaucracy, corruption, poor access to credit and high energy costs are the factors which are adversely affecting investment decisions.
From a press release issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprises (Uccaep):
Political uncertainty, excessive red tape, corruption, access to credit and the cost of electricity are the factors that influence 51% of those surveyed who feel that the current business climate is not favorable for investment in the country. These factors are reflected in the latest results of the Business Pulse survey by UCCAEP performed every three months.
A survey has revealed that 73% of Nicaraguan entrepreneurs distrust the country's judicial system, and perceive the state as very corrupt.
Despite this result, the fourth survey on Trust and Corporate Intent, conducted by the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (Funides), notes a slight improvement in the situation.
"In a survey conducted by Funides with 58 companies representing 30% of the gross value of production of the country, employers said that in addition to the distrust in the application of justice, they also perceive a lot of corruption in state institutions," reported nuevodiario.com.
Maybe it's just paper and ink. There are allegations of corruption that should be clarified by the justice department, but the objective facts of Panamanian reality do not match the poor results from opinion polls on the Martinelli administration.
EDITORIAL
An opinion piece published in Martesfinanciero.com by Gustavo Chelew is blunt in pointing out, under the title "What we are doing", the damage that constant criticism and inflaming public opinion against President Ricardo Martinelli and his governing actions causes to Panama.
With 56.5% of the voters intending to support him, according to a poll by M & R Consultants, President Daniel Ortega, is looking as the winner of the presidential election of November 6, 2011.
These numbers, which come from from a survey taken in June, would allow the current president, Daniel Ortega, to win the election in the first round and "would open the door for complete control of their political party in the National Assembly", reported Laprensa.com.ni.
The Salvadoran president has a 72% approval rating, while Martinelli has 65%, Lobo 51%, Chinchilla 45%, Colom 41% and Ortega 40%.
Mauricio Funes, although still in second place in Latin America, falls three percentage points from a previous survey and now has 72% approval rating, topping the list of presidents in Central America with high evaluation.
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.
Martinelli and Funes lead in Latin America with 91% and 88% approval ratings. In Central America, they are followed by Colom with 46%, Arias 44% and Ortega with 38%.
Mauricio Funes from El Salvador and Ricardo Martinelli from Panama share, together with Brazilian President Lula Da Silva, the privilege of being in the group of "Outstanding Evaluation", composed of those heads of state with approval ratings above 75%.
Laura Chinchilla, from the ruling government party, is the clear favorite to win the upcoming presidential elections in Costa Rica.
According to a CID-Gallup poll, Chinchilla, from the "Liberación Nacional" Party (PLN), would earn 45% of the votes, making her the outright winner in the presidential elections of February 2010.
If the most voted candidate failed to get more than 40% of the casted votes, the presidency would be decided in a second round (ballotage), between the two most-voted candidates.
The presidents of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, and Panama, Ricardo Martinelly, have 86% popularity.
According to the regional survey by Cid-Gallup, which interviewed 1.200 people, Oscar Arias from Costa Rica is in the third place, with a 70% popularity.
He is followed by Alvaro Colom, from Guatemala, with 55%; Leonel Fernández, from Dominican Republic with 47%; deposed Honduran president Manuel Zelaya with 46% and Daniel Ortega, Nicaraguan president, with 42%.
The president of El Salvador, Elias Antonio Saca, maintains a 56% popularity rating at less than year from the end of his term.
According a survey by "La Prensa Grafica", Saca "has managed to keep his popularity high, despite growing discontentment by citizens about the country's bad economic situation."
The survey, in which 1,500 persons were interviewed throughout the country, rate the president0s performance at 6 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Voters in El Salvador are showing a strong preference for the leftist former rebel Farabundo Martí Liberation Front (FMLN) in next year's general elections, according to a poll by Utec, a private technological university.
The poll shows the FMLN with 48.3 percent of the preferences, while the ruling Arena party rates 29.8 percent.