The Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) called on the Government to accept, immediately, the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on public procurement, which seek to guarantee procedures open to the public. competition, non-discrimination and compliance with adequate transparency standards; all of the foregoing with the aim of guaranteeing the best use of State resources at times of recognized fiscal tightness.
The concern originates in the complaints made by several legislators about alleged abusive uses of direct contracting between public law entities, which -according to the Chamber- show that direct contracting with state companies, including ICE, Racsa, ESPH and others, do not seem to respond to criteria of efficiency and effectiveness but to an unhealthy practice of evading bankruptcy proceedings and avoiding the participation of third parties in a competition regime.
In the opinion of the sector, state-owned companies are not an end in themselves, because they must respond to the interest of the community and satisfy a public purpose, so if those companies have failed to meet this purpose, they should deliberate on their continuity instead of sustaining them through direct contracts that undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of public management.
Elias Soley, president of AmCham Costa Rica believes
this situation diverges with the public procurement guidelines that the country must adopt in its process of joining the OECD.”