On Thursday June 5^th, President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solís visited the Caminos de Liderazgo program as part of his first official visit to the southern region of Costa Rica (watch the video here). Among those in the President’s entourage were the Minister of the Environment & Energy, Édgar Gutiérrez Espeleta, the Minister of Tourism, Wilhelm von Breymann, and the Minister of Public Security, Celso Gamboa Sánchez.

The activity started with a very brief overview of the Caminos de Liderazgo program in which the model for the program was explained. Then President Solís and his Ministers took a “tour” of the final product of Caminos de Liderazgo by visiting eight stations. There they met with different entrepreneurs (all participants in Caminos de Liderazgo) who explained their businesses, how their businesses would become part of trails going through the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve, and how their lives and their communities would be changed by the development of this new economic opportunity.

In response to the presentation of Caminos de Liderazgo, the president voiced his support for projects such as this one saying, “The only way of solving the structural problems that have affected the Peninsula for over 40 years is through alliances with social organizations, entrepreneurs, and the government. This is achieved precisely through projects that allow for the development of these public-private partnerships.”

INOGO, and the other partners in Caminos de Liderazgo, are grateful to have had the opportunity to present this important program to the highest levels of the Costa Rican government. Most importantly, this was an opportunity for the outstanding entrepreneurs who are participating in this program to tell their president why the government should support them.  The Caminos de Liderazgo team looks forward to future collaboration with the Solís administration.