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).
Two months after the end of the rainy season, farmers in Costa Rica lament that the government has yet to execute the works needed to mitigate the effects of the droughts scheduled for next summer.
In the opinion of the producers, among the works that the government should have promoted during the current winter was the construction of water reservoirs and wells, as well as the cultivation of fodder to store animal feed, since there is the threat of a possible new drought.
The Salvadoran government announced that it will accelerate the delivery of permits for several construction projects pending from previous administrations, valued at more than $1.4 billion.
Directors of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), who are part of the new administration of President Nayib Bukele, specified that the aim is to deliver as soon as possible the files that were retained by old authorities and that the mission is to streamline the procedures but not to make them flexible.
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.
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.
Since June 3, in Guatemala, the purchase and sale of properties will require a single process to obtain certification of property and cadastral appraisals.
Before this change was implemented, it was necessary to compile separately the certifications of the value at which the real estate was registered in the Municipality, the fiscal value of Dirección de Catastro y Avalúo de Bienes Inmuebles (DICABI) or the value declared in the deed of Purchase-Sale or what was agreed upon by buyer and seller.
One of the first actions of El Salvador's new president, Nayib Bukele, was to announce the elimination of four secretariats and the creation of two new ones: Innovation and Trade and Investment.
In El Salvador, the changes that are coming with the arrival of Nayib Bukele to power are beginning to be announced, since at the first meeting of the Council of Ministers it was reported that the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency, the Social Inclusion Secretariat, the Governance Secretariat, the Transparency and Anti-Corruption Secretariat, and the Vulnerability Secretariat, all created during the FMLN government, will disappear.
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.
Importers in El Salvador report losses in shipments coming from Guatemala and Honduras, because of the tedious procedures that have become in Salvadoran customs.
Obtaining health records in Panama is a complex task, since it is the only Central American country that requests physical samples of new toiletries and cosmetics.
Another factor influencing delays in the issuance of health records is the need for new procedure manuals and more staff, according to local authorities.
Because of flaws in the estimates of costs of the work, in Costa Rica the Comptroller's Office declared unviable the tender to build a sports center, supposedly valued at $40 million.
In July 2016, the Solis administration announced explicitly that they were preparing to tender, at the beginning of 2017, the construction of a 25,000 square meter aquatic center and a 36,000 square meter sports center in San José, for a total cost of $40 million.
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. 41435-S that abolishes the inspection prior to the granting of the certificate for industrial, commercial or service establishments, qualified as high health and environmental risk (risk group A).
The time invested to meet requirements and obtain a response in a process in Salvadoran government institutions costs to the society more than $400 million a year.
According to data from the Regulatory Improvement Body (OMR), in El Salvador 90% of the costs incurred by users are the result of the time spent to meet the requirements for the procedure, and the remaining 10% corresponds to the waiting time for the response.
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