CATIE received the Vice President of the Republic

• Central government authorities visited the canton to present the "Nueva Turrialba" project.

December 19, 2022.. Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim, Director General of CATIE ("Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center") welcomed Mr. Stephan Brunner Neibig, Vice President of Costa Rica and participated with him in the first working group of the project called "Nueva Turrialba”.

The activity, held in the former directors' room of the Henry Wallace building at CATIE headquarters, brought together different ministries and state institutions and was convened by the office of the Vice President in coordination with the promoters of the idea, Congresswoman Rosaura Méndez and Congressman Alejandro Pacheco.

The objective of the project is to design a multi-sectoral body to facilitate coordination between the government, the legislature, local governments, the private sector, academia and civil society organizations, in order to accelerate productive transformation and social inclusion through innovative and high-impact initiatives in the territory.

The director general of CATIE reiterated the commitment that the institution has maintained with the development of Turrialba and emphasized that, in the framework of the 50th anniversary of its creation, it continues to keep its promise to participate in those projects that bring benefits to the canton.

Congresswoman Rosaura Méndez justified that Turrialba and Jiménez have been losing dynamism in their development as a result of factors such as the closing of the railroad in the nineties, the decline of the maquilas, the excessive dependence on agricultural products (coffee and sugar cane), and the intermittent closure of the Turrialba Volcano, one of the region's main attractions.

"To this is added the high hydrometeorological risk, accentuated by climate change, which deteriorates the road infrastructure, as well as the impact of the commercial opening in the dairy sector that will culminate in 2025, a fact that will affect hundreds of families in several districts of the territory," the project mentions.

To face these challenges and enhance opportunities, a space for articulation is created to facilitate the construction of a shared vision of the New Turrialba and the promotion of the necessary actions to make it a reality.

The main contributions of the project, objectives and examples of the potential of the canton were presented by Álvaro Ramírez Bogantes, who then gave the floor to each of the authorities present, who also made public their commitment to accompany and facilitate what is necessary to make each of the ideas presented.

As detailed, the structure will be coordinated by the vice-presidency together with both legislative offices..

CATIE and IICA will head the technical secretariat, while the other institutions will be organized according to thematic areas.

For example, the growth axis will be coordinated by MEIC, its Spanish acronym (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce), the talent axis by MEP, its Spanish acronym (Ministry of Public Education), the resilience axis by MINAE, its Spanish acronym (Ministry of Environment and Energy) and the infrastructure axis by MIDEPLAN, its Spanish acronym (Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy).

Finally, the Vice President of the Republic expressed his commitment to the idea and insisted that the proposal must also include a human ingredient from the people of Turrialba, who must actively participate and fight with all their energies for the development of their community.