QCOSTARICA – Employers say the 18% decline in exports in February 2015 compared to the same month in 2014 is not due to temporary factors, but to a continued loss of competitiveness.
Excessive bureaucracy and the high cost of energy and other factors related to production are part of the problems affecting the private sector and are causing a reduction of exports, according to the president of the National Chamber of Agriculture and Agribusiness, Juan Rafael Lizano.
The executive director of the Chamber of Exporters of Costa Rica, Fiorella Bulgarelli told Crhoy.com that “… There are a number of factors that are influencing the decline in exports. First, red tape remains cumbersome because there are a lot of institutions and they do not hold agreements with each other. Second, there is little progress in infrastructure and third, we lack financing and although there is hope with the System for Development Banking, there are some sectors that are not going to be able to have access to it. ”
For his part, Francisco Gamboa, executive director of the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica , added, “… The industrial sector remains a major concern, because excluding electronic components in order to isolate the effect of Intel, industrial exports outside the free zone fell by 10% and this decline affected all target regions except North America. We therefore hope that this behavior can be reversed … “.
Source: Crhoy.com
