Despite the fiscal crisis, the country slightly increased its investment in Scientific and Technological Activities (ACT). The increase was around $200 million, due to the increase in the contribution of the academic sector. In absolute terms, $ 1.3 billion were invested in the sector.
The academic sector, which provides the largest investment in ACT, was also the one that grew the most, with 21.3% between 2016 and 2017.
– The public sector invested $420.6 million
– Businesses invested $75.9 million
– Organizations invested $0.6 million
These are part of the results of the IX Report of National Indicators of Science, Technology and Innovation, presented by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT).
Deputy Minister Paola Vega mentioned that there is a challenge for companies to increase their investment in this field. She stressed that despite the economic situation and fiscal stringency, the country maintains this investment.
There are three types of ACT and these are their results in the total investment:
– Scientific and Technological Services: 43.8%
– Teaching and Scientific and Technological Training: 42.9%
– Research and Development (R & D): 13.2%
The investment in ACT as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had an increase from 2016 to 2017, due to the growth from the training sector. It went from 2.12% in 2016 to 2.36% in 2017. In absolute terms, only $246 million were invested in 2017.
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The country is better in this area than Chile and Uruguay. Vega said that Costa Rica is not “so bad”, compared to neighboring nations. But it is not enough to join the group of countries that invest significantly in science and technology, such as Argentina.
Minister Luis Adrián Salazar affirmed that while the trend continues, Costa Rica has all the conditions, human talent and education, to take a leap in the field.
However, great challenges are still to be faced, such as involving more women in science and technology jobs and careers, having more people major in engineering and having those engineers obtain higher training levels and degrees; and supporting more researchers.