Costa Rica’s Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) designed a strategy that could help the country attract more foreign investments. With this project, CINDE expects to be able to generate more employment.
According to CINDE, as part of the main changes, the model of social security contributions should be reconsidered and support should be given to the implementation of a curricular reform in the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), to promote the development of the skills needed in the modern era.
CINDE also considers the country has the potential to improve to achieve greater socioeconomic development, generate more quality employment and move towards a more equitable and inclusive society.
“It will give a boost to productivity that will allow the country an increasingly successful insertion in the global context of transformation,” said CINDE.
Regarding public education, CINDE points out the crisis this sector has experienced given to the pandemic. The agency also highlights the country has had historical educational setbacks, which combined with the pandemic and socioeconomic crisis, generated dramatic learning deficits in schoolchildren, particularly in lower-income households.
Likewise, indicates CINDE, “priority should be given to the consolidation of high-quality teaching careers, with a gender and inclusion perspective and to providing teachers and students with high-quality pedagogical and technological resources.”
In addition, expanding and improving secondary technical education, strengthening university training programs, the transformation process of the National Apprenticeship Institute (INA), strengthening the “Empleate” program and accelerating the closing of the bilingualism gap, are encouraged.
Another important theme another important point involves the current labor regulation. Technological advances and globalization reveal the need to modernize existing labor regulations in order to adjust them to new demands and realities. This modernization of the labor regulations can reduce the indicators of female and youth unemployment.
“Promoting a labor market that is better prepared to meet technological and global transformation challenges creates opportunities for a more dynamic environment, with more and better jobs. In this sense, labor market modernization requires a holistic approach that creates linkages and coordination between the education sector, partners, employers, employment agencies and local governments,” CINDE determines.
To help generate employment, it is further proposed to improve regulation in public institutions to avoid imposing unnecessary costs on citizens and businesses, which hinder growth and development.
Furthermore, CINDE suggests guarantee the stability and legal security of the Free Trade Zone Regime, since it provides employment to a large number of people in the country.
On the other hand, in terms of energy, it is important to open participation in the Central American Electricity Market and modernize the regulatory framework to generate energy resources from renewable sources, including green hydrogen.
Finally, the Agency established it is extremely important to guarantee the quality of infrastructure in the territories, complemented by transportation infrastructure and access to public services.
