[captionpix imgsrc=”https://thecostaricanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/amcham1.jpg” align=”left” captiontext=”The CPC plans to make recommendations to the Government on issues such as attracting foreign investment, and improving government efficiency and infrastructure.”]San José, Costa Rica. Several Costa Rican companies united to create the Competitiveness Council (CPC), which was launched during the Competitiveness Summit 2011, held last Monday November 28th at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Jose.
The CPC is a private entity which seeks to contribute in building a more prosperous country, and creating a national environment that promotes productivity, innovation, and competitiveness.
The Council arose from the conclusions from the First Forum of Competitiveness, which took place last year.
The organization has been created at a key time in Costa Rican economy, as the country competitiveness ranking fell 6 positions this year, according to data from the Global Competitiveness Report, published by the World Economic Forum.
Costa Rica moved down from position 56th to position 61st, mostly due factors such as infrastructure deficiencies, excess of bureaucracy, lack of financial resources and security issues.
These are precisely some of the problems the Council plans to fix.
“Costa Rica has been losing competitiveness against its competitors. The CPC has identified that Costa Rica needs to change to get more out of its potential,” said Luis Gamboa, president of the Board.
In addition, Gamboa stated that the Government must provide the necessary conditions to increase competitiveness among companies.
The CPC plans to make recommendations to the Government on issues such as attracting foreign investment, and improving government efficiency and infrastructure.
According to Fernando Chavarria, Deloitte consulting partner and president of the Competitiveness Summit, the CPC will not provide policy or union recommendations, as the association is composed of entrepreneurs, universities and civil society.
The Council’s mission is to promote strategies for long-term development in order to build a more creative and productive society.
The organization also seeks to implement practices that encourage economic and social advancement.
[captionpix imgsrc=”https://thecostaricanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/amcham.jpg” align=”right” captiontext=”This year, the Competitiveness Summit was organized by American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and Deloitte, and it consisted of several forums and discussions about the social and economic development of the country.”]Furthermore, the CPC will encourage the development of national talent and skills, as well as the innovation of companies and institutions in order to improve competitiveness.
“The main purpose of the Council is to build the capacity to tap local talent in a productive and proactive way,” said Clotilde Fonseca, Executive Director of the organization.
“An essential part of our mission lies in uniting efforts and wills, especially among the productive, academic, and labor sectors, so that we can contribute to the transformation of the country by identifying which paths must be followed, and promoting actions in collaboration with the Government, the Legislative Assembly, and other entities of Costa Rica ” she added.
Among the founding companies of the Competitiveness Council (CPC) are Arias & Muñoz, Café Britt, Dell, Deloitte, Labels Etipres, Facio Abogados, Florex, Hewlett Packard, Hospira, IBM Business Transformation Center, Polytechnic International Kativo Costa Rica, the Republic Media Group, The Map Strategic Communication, 3M and Vedova and Obando.
Microsoft also joined the organization in recent days.
The Council is still organizing its work agenda, but one of its plans is to build alliances with other competitiveness councils around the world, in order to exchange ideas and implement better practices.
This year, the Competitiveness Summit was organized by American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and Deloitte, and it consisted of several forums and discussions about the social and economic development of the country.
Some of the entrepreneurs that participated in the forum were Arturo Velasco, Director of Global Solution Center at Hewlett Packard, Jose Alfredo Sanchez, vice president of Meco, Paul Gallie, Managing Director of APM Terminals Moin, Carlos Plass, Executive Director AERIS CR Holding, and Steve Aronson, President and founder of Café Britt.
Other participants were the Minister of Foreign Trade, Anabel Gonzalez, the Education Minister Leonardo Garnier, Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Francisco Jiménez, and the President of CINDE, Joseph Ross.
In addition, the Competitiveness Summit had the presence of international speakers, Anne Andrew, U.S. ambassador, and Jihong Kim, associate director of the Korean Development Institute.
“This forum will generate a national analysis that will respond to the real needs and transformations that this country and its citizens require,” said Jose Antonio Muñoz, president of AmCham.
By David Gómez for TheCostaRicaNews.com
