Economists and business leaders gathered this Monday at the San Jose Palacio Hotel to discuss a topic that is in the minds of millions in Costa Rica and others with financial ties to this country: ¿Hacia dónde vamos?  (Where Are We Headed?). The 17 experts agreed that this nation is in deep economic crisis, but they also agreed that not all hope is lost. This business forum was hosted by Summa Connections and reported by monthly magazine Revista Summa.

 

Economist Alberto Trejos of consulting firm Economy and Finance Counselors (Spanish acronym: CEFSA) indicated that the fiscal efforts conducted by Costa Rica in the wake of the financial crisis of the 1980s were abandoned about seven years ago. He explained:

 

The deficit is eroding up to 35 percent of savings at a national level. This is a very difficult situation for our country, and we must act in order to stop the suffering.

 

Mr. Trejos added that the taxation burden in Costa Rica is similar to that of similar, yet stable, economies, meaning that he thinks the problem is not income or revenue, but rather excessive government spending. Mr. Trejos specifically cited government salaries, which have increased 70 percent on average over the last seven years.

 

Gabriela Llobet, an analyst who specializes in topics related to business competitiveness and efficient markets thinks that a key factor in keeping Costa Rica from going over the cliff lies in the number of university graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM):

 

I’m sure that if each year we could produce 40,000 STEM graduates, almost all of them would find work without difficulty. But we have a malfunction in the sense that for each STEM graduate we have four graduating in liberal arts and nine in education.

 

Jorge Sequeira, Director of the Costa Rica Investment Promotion Agency, agrees with Ms. Llobet and added that the country should seek greater levels of foreign direct investment:

 

We must educate our young people and help them overcome their fear of math. It is also important to give them opportunities for business financing. It is often frustrating to see startups from young entrepreneurs that never get off the ground because they can’t get the $40,000 or $50,000 they need. We should offer them such opportunities.