President Luis Guillermo Solís said that despite the delayed response they’ve had to some requests from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), he hopes to have the recommendations from the 22 committees ready before his term ends, so that the country is able to join the group.
This process is the biggest reform of State of all time, since Costa Rica is choosing to try and improve practices and reach the world’s most developed countries and be more efficient and transparent,”
said Solís.
The work of 22 committees began in July last year, when Costa Rica started the admission process and 30 institutions are working on it under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
Some of the topics being discussed are: investment, bribery, corporate governance, financial services, insurance markets and private pensions, competition, fiscal matters, environmental policy, public governance, regulatory policy, statistics, education, employment and social affairs, health, trade, science and technology, digital economy and consumer policy.
The Secretary General of the OECD, Ángel Gurría, found deficiencies in all the above-mentioned aspects during his visit to Costa Rica. But the more he is worried that public administration is fragmented because tax revenues are very low and spending is increasing.
Similarly, Gurría noted that income inequality is high and poverty has remained unchanged over the past 20 years.