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Costa Rica ranks 62 according to the Global Competitiveness Report

10 October 2019
Mauren esquivel
  • Costa Rica drops 7 places in the index
  • Ranks 62nd out of 141 countries

October 9, 2019. This October 9, the results of the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report were released, for the second consecutive year the methodology focused on the fourth industrial revolution is used, and which tries to measure how prepared countries are to take advantage of the benefits and face the challenges of this revolution.

According to the Global Report 2019 that was released today in Geneva, Switzerland, Singapore is the most competitive economy of the 141 countries evaluated, followed by the United States and Hong Kong. The United States loses its leadership and Hong Kong gains 4 positions. In Latin America, the leadership is maintained by Chile, followed by Mexico and Uruguay.

Costa Rica is positioned as the fifth most competitive country in the region in position 62. Among the strengths that the country presents, the report indicates that, in the areas of infrastructure, health, skills and products, Costa Rica is positioned higher than the Latin American average.

Despite the country's strengths, Costa Rica faces considerable challenges in harnessing the potential of the fourth industrial revolution. Among the most critical areas is the adoption of ICT by having few subscriptions to fiber optic internet and fixed broadband. On the issue of capacity to innovate, we lag behind the best in the world due to little recognition from research institutions and scientific publications. Another critical point is the financial market due to the little financing given to SMEs, the availability of risk capital and the little development of the capital market.

For Ronald Arce, a CLACDS researcher, the main challenge facing the country is the slowness with which we are facing the challenges of the XNUMXst century. In the last three years the score on the competitiveness index has barely changed, however, we have lost positions because other countries are moving quickly and we in Costa Rica are unable to adapt to the pace of change.

The fourth industrial revolution will create new relationships between human beings and technology, which affects the way we work, live and interact. This revolution has the potential for countries to skip stages of development, but it also makes the route less known. The ability to take advantage of the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution requires having the “old” development conditions: institutionality, infrastructure and skills.

This study, carried out with the support of the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development of INCAE Business School, a regional partner of the World Economic Forum since 1996, makes an analysis of the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the productivity level of an economy.  

The 2019 report scores were built based on national statistics and international organizations, and on the Executive Opinion Survey of the World Economic Forum that is carried out on more than 14,000 entrepreneurs around the world.

The Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS) of INCAE Business School has contributed since 1996 to the preparation of this document as it is a regional partner of the World Economic Forum. CLACDS is responsible for the collection of information in 7 Latin American countries: Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic.  

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Press contact: Mauren Esquivel, phone (506) 2437-2394, email mauren.esquivel@incae.edu