Dominican Republic among region’s most stagnated nations: Report

San Jose, Costa Rica.- The Dominican Republic is among themost stagnated countries in the region, according to the Global CompetitivenessReport of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which states that Central Americashould redouble efforts to reduce excess red tape, corruption and insecurity,factors that undermine development.

The study indicates that the country appears in the number92 position of 138 countries evaluated. It notes that corruption is signaled bybusenss leaders as the biggest problem in Panama and the Dominican Republic,but is among the five main problems in other countries.

This is one of the main conclusions reached today by theLatin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS)of the Central American Institute for Business Administration (INCAE), based inCosta Rica, which presented the regional report data as WEF partner in CentralAmerica.

Panama is Central America’s most competitive country,located at 42nd spot on a global level and second in Latin America,surpassed only by Chile, which is numbers 33 worldwide.

Costa Rica is second in Central America and 54thin the world and fourth in Latin America, while Guatemala lags behind at the 78thesport, Honduras (88), Dominican Republic (92), Nicaragua (100) and El Salvador(105).

CLACDS / INCAE researcher Ronald Arce presented the resultsof Central America, Dominican Republic and Bolivia, and noted that according tobusiness leaders polled as part of the report, bureaucracy, corruption andinsecurity are the main problems that reduce competitiveness to the region.

"Bureaucracy and corruption are very important factorsin Central America, but also throughout Latin America. Governments have notgone into the digital age, there are many procedures; and corruption affectsboth the public and the private system, and is a stunt on growth," Arce said.