Saxophone Combined With Organ
TONE modulation such as only the most accomplished wind instrument artist can achieve can now be duplicated by a beginner as a result of a new instrument called the solfia now being manufactured in Germany. The new wind instrument is played with a mouthpiece similar to that of a saxophone, but the notes are controlled by an organ keyboard. An air chamber within the device modulates the tone and adds resonance.
Money Changing Machine Gives Silver for Bills!
MANY times has the cash girl wished that she didn’t have to change paper money and run out of change. Realizing this, an English inventor conceived and produced a changing machine. The bank note is placed within a flap on the top of the machine and the lever pressed downward. The exact change is then delivered to a cup at the bottom. A one pound English note is the only one that can be used in this particular model, but no doubt the inventor will fit the idea to several other types of currency.
The American cigarette vending machine is similar to this device. It has relieved the cash girl greatly, but there is still much congestion along this line. Modern invention is producing labor saving devices so fast that we often wonder just what will be next.
Human rights activists in Mexico face life-threatening harassment and attacks, while the government does very little to protect them.
Here are profiles of three such activists who in the course of their work have been subjected to threats, acts of intimidation and arbitrary detention.
Obtilia Eugenio Manuel
The founder and President of the Organization of the Me’ phaa Indigenous People (OPIM) in Guerrero, Obtilia Eugenio Manuel is a longstanding campaigner for the rights of Indigenous people.
She has been the target of numerous threats, acts of intimidation and surveillance since the Me’ phaa and Mixteco Indigenous communities started to organize in 1998.
The campaign of intimidation against her and the risks to her life became so serious in recent years, Obtilia and her family were forced to relocate to another community.
For example, in March 2009, just after a ceremony commemorating human rights defender Raúl Lucas Lucía, who was murdered in February 2009, Obtilia received three death threats by text message to her mobile phone.
In January 2009, she was followed on numerous occasions. One time, she recognized one of the men following her. She had reported several earlier incidents involving the same man to the authorities, but they asked her to provide more evidence before they would investigate.
On one occasion he leaned out of his car and shouted: "Do you think you’re so brave? Are you a real woman? Let’s hope you also go to prison… If you don’t go to prison, we’ll kill you."
None of the threats or acts of intimidation against her have been investigated.
Obtilia, 32, and her partner have two daughters aged 8 and 6 and a son aged 4.
Jesús Emiliano
Jesús Emiliano is a leading member of the Peasant Farmers’ Democratic Front of Chihuahua, north Mexico, an organization that campaigns for the economic rights of poor rural farmers.
Jesús was arbitrarily detained on spurious criminal charges by federal authorities in 2007 on account of his human rights activism and as a way of stopping him from defending human rights.
Amnesty International has documented similar abuses against many other human rights activists.
Jesús was arbitrarily detained in Chihuahua City on 9 March 2007 and charged with sabotage, a federal criminal offence. He was released unconditionally five days later, after the federal judge dismissed the charges for lack of evidence.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office requested Jesús’ detention claiming the charges against him were linked to a demonstration in 2005 on a federal highway.
After his lawyer gained access to the files, he discovered the charges were related to Jesús’ participation in a in a different demonstration to demand support for poor small-scale farmers on 20 February 2007 outside the building of the Chihuahua office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
Such irregularities were acknowledged by the judge who dismissed the case, but no action was taken against the federal authorities for wrongful arrest.
Jesús, 42, is married and has six children aged 23, 21, 20, 18, 2 and a 3-month-old baby.
Father Alejandro Solalinde
"I will never be the same person that I was before I started working to defend the rights of migrants. My family knows that the security risks are big and they have accepted that as have I."
Father Alejandro Solalinde is the Co-ordinator of the Catholic Pastoral Care Centre for Migrants in South-western Mexico and Director of a migrants’ shelter in Ciudad Ixtepec, Oaxaca state.
Since 2005 Father Alejandro Solalinde has dedicated his life to providing a place of safety for migrants, away from the criminal gangs who exploit and abuse them.
He has travelled on the network of freight trains taken by migrants heading to Mexico’s northern border, saying that doing the journey himself was the only way of finding out about the horrors migrants have to face.
On 26 February 2007, he set up the Ciudad Ixtepec migrant shelter next to the railway lines used by travelling Central Americas. Over 400 migrants slept at the shelter on that first night and the flow of people has been constant ever since.
Because of his work, Father Solalinde has been continuously threatened and intimidated by local gangs and officials.
Last December, he was warned that a criminal gang operating in Veracruz and Oaxaca planned to kill him.
Photo copyrights: Obtilia Eugenio Manuel (CDHM Tlachinollan AC) Jesús Emiliano (Private) and Father Alejandro Solalinde (Amnesty International/Ricardo Ramírez Arriola)
David Cage, the brains behind the heavily-anticipated PS3 exclusive, Heavy Rain, has shed some light on developer Quantic Dream’s DLC plans.
Worse yet, analyst earnings forecasts for our current rebound are heavily dependent on margin expansion and are hoping for margins to be higher than any time ever, except for the brief 2005 - 2007 period. Higher than the late nineties even.
Mr. Buckland doesn't seem too concerned:
Citi: We don’t believe margins are destined to fall back down to historical averages, or below, over the next two years. Neither do we think they will push much higher than 2007 levels of 8%. However, our expectation of a sharp rebound in profits (driven by the combination of a subdued revenue recovery and a low cost base) can drive margins ahead over the next two years.
We're pretty sure Citi has a far more detailed view of margins on a company-by-company basis than we do, but from our vantage point 30,000 above betting on essentially all-time high margins seems dangerous. The economist in us wonders why global profitability would suddenly jump to a new, higher long-term level (above the 4.5% of the last 30 years).
As shown below, margin expansion (in black) is a huge part of forecast earnings growth over the next two years. Seems like there could be a lot of room for disappointment in 2010:
(Via Citi, Global Equity Strategist, Robert Buckland, 20 January 2010)
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What is considered by Daimler the first touring coach with equipment for disabled passengers to be made available ex factory has been unveiled today by the carmaker and Bayern Express & P. Kühn Berlin (BEX). The novelty is the fact that the equipment for disabled passengers is available straight from the factory.
The Tourismo L features 57 + 2 passenger seats plus space for four wheelchairs on board. The wheelchairs are lifted by an electric lift situated aft of the front axle. Once inside, t… (read more)
Pro football players sought lawmakers’ help Wednesday in preventing NFL owners from imposing a lockout after next season and said a league victory in a Supreme Court antitrust case could affect free agency and ticket prices.
“We want Congress to know that management is pushing us toward a lockout,” said Kevin Mawae, the union president and one of about 30 current and former players who were on Capitol Hill.
A league official said the players’ time would be better spent negotiating with the owners than lobbying Congress. Mawae, a Tennessee Titans center, said in an interview that he hopes Congress will exert its leverage over the league to help prevent a lockout, which players fear the owners plan to do following the 2010 season. He cited comments by New York Giants co-owner John Mara to The New York Times this week that the two sides might be moving further apart in negotiations for a new deal.
Owners contend the existing agreement, which calls for players to receive about 60 percent of revenues, is too favorable for players.
“We like the agreement the way it is,” Washington Redskins wide receiver Antwaan Randle El told The Associated Press. He said owners “want us to go back to the ’70s,” before the current free agency system started.
Several players said they told lawmakers how a lockout would affect workers who depend on games, such as employees of football stadiums and nearby restaurants. They said Congress has leverage over the league, including an antitrust exemption for broadcasting contracts that helped turn the NFL into the economic powerhouse it is today.
“I want Congress to review why they gave the exemption,” Houston Texans guard Chester Pitts said. Holding his fingers a half-inch apart, he added, “Right now, the NFL has that much oversight. We want more.”
League Vice President Joe Browne said in an e-mail that the union’s new executive director, DeMaurice Smith, won election on a platform “that included ‘using’ Congress to exert influence on our labor talks. Kevin’s comments — and the visits by dozens of players to the Hill today — are consistent with that promise. The owners and players are going to negotiate a deal. The only question is when. Having the union and its player reps spending more time in the negotiating room and less time lobbying Congress would be a good start.”
The players also brought up a Supreme Court case in which the NFL argues it should be considered one business when it comes to selling NFL-branded items. The court heard arguments on the case last week.
Apparel maker American Needle claimed that the league’s exclusive contract with Reebok International Ltd. for headgear violated antitrust laws. Players fear a broad ruling from the court that would go beyond merchandise.
“A judgment in favor of the NFL could severely damage the system that we’ve had in place for the last 20-something years,” Mawae said, predicting such a decision could affect free agency for players and help owners control ticket prices. He made the same point in testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee.
Browne said the case simply deals with the licensing of intellectual property.
Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia, who heads the subcommittee, wondered why the NFL needs “special antitrust immunity? The NFL is seeking indirectly from the courts what it could not get from Congress. ”
Read the original article from Tribune News Services.
Defense lawyers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich have again asked the judge overseeing his case to grant them quick access to investigative documents, saying the defense should be given “the same shot at an acquittal that the government has to obtain a conviction.”
The Blagojevich team in December had requested to have evidence turned over to them early so they could better prepare for a trial that is now set to start June 3, a request prosecutors have flatly rejected.
Among the items the lawyers requested were notes agents made during any interviews of President Barack Obama, with the defense signalling it was making a decision about potentially calling him as a witness in the case.
“A government confident enough in its own rectitude to try purported terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a United States District Court in New York should likewise be secure enough to provide the accused former governor of Illiinois with the requested statements of the President of the United States,” the motion filed Wednesday reads. “What next, a government motion to limit the tapes to only those the government wants played at trial?”
The Blagojevich defense has long suggested it would like to see all the tapes made public, while the government typically seeks to limit the number of recordings a jury can hear to those it believes are on-point.
In a filing earlier this month, prosecutors argued they had already met their obligations to date. They told the court they would stay in compliance with the rules of evidence, turning over material as required.
The government noted it must only turn over notes of interviews of the defendant and witnesses it calls to the stand, not any and all reports made by agents during the course of an investigation.
“Accordingly, the government will resist any attempt by the defendant to obtain unwarranted discovery of internal file materials,” the filing stated, adding that written statements of trial witnesses will be turned over as required. “The defendant is entitled to no more.”
Read the original article from Tribune News Services.
Tribune Co. on Wednesday said it had generated a much better-than-expected $500 million in cash flow during 2009 and sought to make it easier for a bankruptcy judge to bless $45.6 million in bonuses tied to the results for 720 managers at the company.
In July, Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware for permission to pay from $21.5 to around $67 million in bonuses through three separate performance-based plans.
The biggest was a continuation of Tribune Co.’s normal incentive bonus plan for both top and middle managers. The other two would reward a group of around 20 top managers for either navigating the bankruptcy process or “transforming” their business units.
A group of company unions objected to the request at a September court hearing, calling the bonuses top-heavy and too easy to earn. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey has yet to rule as he prepares a formal opinion on the matter.
Tribune Co. had originally requested that Carey rule on all three plans together. But on Wednesday, the company said it would be willing to have the court “bifurcate” its ruling so that the larger group of more than 700 managers could be rewarded in February for their 2009 performance.
Any payout would be based on how much cash flow the company generated relative to plan in 2009. The maximum payout would require a result 200 percent more than originally predicted.
In a separate note to employees Wednesday, Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels said that the company generated almost $500 million in cash flow during the year “thanks to a stronger than expected performance by both the Broadcasting and Publishing Groups in the fourth quarter.”
The results owe much to cost cutting efforts but Michaels noted that lower newsprint costs and a slightly better economy helped.
A spokesman said that level of cash flow exceeded the 200 percent threshold, meaning bonuses for the group of 720 would come in at a maximum of $45.6 million if approved. If the judge also approved the other two plans, they would pay out around $21 million to a much smaller group.
Read the original article from Tribune News Services.
Federal regulators said today they are taking a closer look at concerns about noise, vibrations, and train delays along the former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway line.
The Surface Transportation Board will survey all 33 suburbs along the rail line, now owned by the Canadian National Railway, to ask them whether they feel the CN is accurately and completely reporting problems along the line.
The chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, Daniel Elliott III , ordered the action after making two recent tours of the suburbs on the rail line with local officials.
The transportation board is sending out questionnaires to officials in the 33 communities in Illinois and Indiana affected by CN’s controversial acquisition last year of the 198-mile EJ&E line, which runs in an arc from Waukegan to Joliet to Gary.
The board is asking about train noise and vibration, train volumes and street blockages, vehicle delays and traffic congestion at selected rail/highway at-grade crossings, operational accidents, and identification signs at crossings.
– Richard Wronski
Read the original article from Tribune News Services.
YouTube is trying everything these days to bring revenue numbers up and movie rentals shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone. The site is now announcing that it will begin renting movies starting with a small trial run of five movies being featured in the famous indie Sundance Film Festival which gets underway next week…. (read more)
The latest AdMob metrics report is out today and it’s nothing we haven’t seen yet. To sum it up quickly, Android continues to grow both here in the US and abroad. In the span of one year Android traffic (in the AdMob network) has grown from 1% overall to 16% for North America and Western Europe.
Here in the United States, Android handset now accounts for 7 out of the top ten smartphones that hit AdMob’s network. The Droid is the most popular, followed by the Dream/G1 and Hero. If you take a look at Android’s growth over each of the last four quarters, it’s immediately obvious that the platform is eating into Windows Mobile’s share. This time last year year, Windows Mobile accounted for 12% whereas now it sits at 3% right next “other.” Ouch.
To view the full AdMob report, head to their website.
There have been three Porsche Design products awarded by the Industry Forum Hannover (iF) jury this year: the P’8810 Reading Tool, the P’1700 Shoe Collection and the P’9522 Mobile Phone. Each product received the iF Product Design Award thanks to their design quality, workmanship, material selection and level of innovation.
We choose to focus on products inspired by technology with a timeless, functional and purist design, Juergen Gessler, Porsche Design Group CEO, said in a release.
It … (read more)
The University’s Human Rights Program is launching a photography series aimed at exploring how photography is used in human rights discourse.
The first exhibit in the Looking at Human Rights series will feature Canadian photographer V. Tony Hauser’s portraits of children who survived land mine injuries.
Taken in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in May 2006, the 16 stark, life-sized portraits are intended to humanize the continued suffering caused by armed conflicts across the globe.
Hauser will introduce his exhibition, Living with Land Mines, at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22 at Harper Commons‘ Stuart Reading Room. The images will be on display through Winter Quarter.
Upcoming exhibits in the series will include photographs made by youth in a project in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as a human rights photo competition open to UChicago students.
A UChicago Arts Council grant has funded the series, and fourth-year Jasmine Heiss has curated it, with the support of the Human Rights Program.
Hauser’s work was selected because it illustrates the potential of the medium to bring marginalized groups and individuals to public attention. The children in his photographs live at the Cambodia Land Mine Museum, which also serves as a rescue center for land mine amputee children.
It provides a dormitory and a school, and has a medical clinic, rehabilitation center and a training facility for land mine accident prevention and safety.
“I purposely chose to isolate them from their natural surroundings,” says Hauser, who photographed the children using a 4 x 5-inch view camera, Polaroid film and a seamless canvas backdrop.
“I hoped this would elevate them and, at the same time, reveal my admiration for their strength.”
Living with Land Mines is the first exhibit to be displayed in the recently revamped Harper Commons, which is working to build a permanent and circulating artwork and photography collection as part of its reprogrammed space.
This event is free and open to the public. Stuart Reading Room is located at 1116 E. 59th St.
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President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has been in power for three decades The head of state will now automatically be the leader of the party with the parliamentary majority. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has been in power for more than three decades and the next polls are not expected until 2012. The oil-rich nation is recovering from a long civil war which ended in 2002.
The change was approved by 186 out of the 220 members of parliament, and drew loud applause and chants of "Angola, Angola!" from MPs in chamber, AFP news agency reports. The BBC’s Louise Redvers in the capital, Luanda, says under the new constitution, a president can only serve two five-year terms but he would start from scratch in 2012, meaning Mr dos Santos could remain in office until 2022. Our reporter says the vote on the new constitution had been expected in March. The extension of the president’s powers has come in for criticism. "The ruling MPLA says the constitution will increase democracy, but by abolishing the presidential ballot and concentrating all the power on the president it will do exactly the opposite," political analyst Fernando Macedo told Reuters news agency. |
We had some very sad news recently. The founder of Taco Bell passed away at the age of 86. There is still no word on whether he’s going to have a funeral or a funeral supreme.
Some FHA lenders out there had feared that the potential changes that HUD and FHA could make to their program would be their funeral. That turned out not to be the case, and there has been a good amount of analysis of the changes. The underwriting changes by the FHA include increases in the MI premium, an increased down-payment requirement for low FICO borrowers, a reduction in the ability to roll closing costs into the loan, and increased lender recourse to FHA lenders. What they don’t include, of course, is a program-wide minimum FICO, or program-wide increase in the down payment. Generally speaking, most agree that the changes announced to FHA underwriting seem to be less restrictive than anticipated and more supportive of mortgage credit availability and the housing market at the expense of minimizing losses to the MI fund.
There continues to be confusion on broker compensation. One lender in California, Reunion Mortgage, sent out their policies, set to match regulatory changes, which will hopefully clear things up for their clients. “The maximum broker compensation allowed is: The broker’s origination Fee (including all broker fees): < 3.5% for Conventional, 4.5% for FHA; the broker’s Origination Fee (including all broker and lender fees): < 4% for VA; the total of all fees paid to broker if the loan amount is greater than $500,000, the greater of < 2% or $22,500; YSP is capped at 3%, unless otherwise indicated on rate sheet.” Reunion goes on to say that “all fees must be reasonable and customary, all fees must comply with State, Federal and agency requirements, individual loan programs may have additional restrictions, and broker funds are sent to title for disbursement at funding.” There you have it!
Originators are still grappling with the GFE and RESPA changes. One wrote and said, “This week we sat down with a borrower that is doing an FHA loan. The seller is paying all of the closing costs and as usual the borrower is financing the upfront MIP. Essentially the borrower is coming in with their 3.5% down payment. Our GFE was filled out correctly and yet it showed that the borrower needed $13,850 for closing. Unfortunately the new form does not take into account the fact that the borrower is financing the MIP or the seller credit of $10,000. When we arrived at the bottom line on the GFE form, the client saw they needed $13,850 to close; they were shocked to say the least. They looked us right in the eye and said, ‘You want us to sign this official looking form, and you’re telling us to trust you that what is written here is not correct?’ We were speechless and must have looked equally as shocked as the borrower seeing a number that was not part of the discussion. All we could think about was HUD put us in this very uncomfortable position. Ultimately we had to show the borrower a version of the old GFE that shows the seller credit and the upfront MIP being offset by the loan amount. The only benefit for the consumer on this new form is the information on the lock expiration; otherwise we have taken about two steps backward with respect to making the closing process more understandable.” Well said.
Most of the overnight’s freezing rain has passed through the Chicago area, but motorists on their morning commutes still could face some hazardous driving conditions.
“Untreated roads are still going to be pretty nasty,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Lenning. “It’s going to be a surprise to people, unfortunately.”
Today’s forecast still calls for patchy light freezing drizzle in the morning, then a chance of light freezing rain or drizzle in the afternoon. Highs will be in the lower 30s.
There were no significant problems this morning on Chicago-area expressways as the freezing rain moved out of the area and into northwest Indiana, according to Illinois State Police.
But side streets that haven’t been treated with salt like the expressways may pose problems for motorists.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday had issued a freezing rain advisory for much of northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana that still is set to expire at 6 a.m.
The weather service warned that periods of freezing rain or drizzle would cause roads to get slippery and create other travel difficulties. Temperatures in the area were slightly below the freezing mark overnight, the weather service said.
Metra similarly warned its riders.
“Please be advised that, as always, we will make every reasonable effort to assure your timely and comfortable commute,” Metra said in an online service alert. “Unfortunately, weather conditions beyond our control often create unanticipated delays or service disruptions.”
Read the original article from Tribune News Services.
For those of you looking for a different desktop experience, BumpTop Mac is now available for public consumption.
Almost four years ago we got a glimpse of the BumpTop prototype, and the application of physics to desktop-based files looked great. Since then, the Windows version has been made available, and the Mac version has been in closed beta (as I’ve mentioned previously). I still like the concept, and it definitely feels like it was made for OS X (versus just a Windows port) which is ideal. To find out more about what BumpTop Mac does, and why (or why not) it may be useful for you, read on.
The good folks at BumpTop brand it as, “Your Mac Desktop, Reinvented,” which I believe is a fair statement. Though I look at it more as what Path Finder did for the Finder — it adds a bunch of features, and makes the standard OS X desktop prettier (in some ways).
Essentially, BumpTop works to make your computer desktop more like your physical desktop. It adds walls around the flat space that allow you to pin things up ‘out of the way’, it lets you click and fling files across the space using physics characteristics (so if one file is represented as larger, it will crash through a group of smaller files), and more. The best, and most useful feature, in my opinion, is the Piles concept. Clicking and dragging a circle around several files allows you to group them together into a pile, signifying relevance to one another. Of course, all of this is great, but assumes that you keep lots of files and ’stuff’ on your desktop — which goes against my Desktop Zero concept, but to each his/her own!
Does all of this sound interesting to you? If so, you can download BumpTop Mac for free. Should you decide you want to upgrade to the Pro version, it will cost you $29. The Pro price tag brings with it some extra bling features like unlimited sticky notes and the ability to flip through your Piles, as well as ‘Find-as-you-type’ search, multi-touch gestures, and preferred support. (As a note, the multi-touch gestures currently support the MacBook line’s trackpads — there is no mention of the Magic Mouse.) Are those things worth the price to you? It’s very possible that they are, and who are we kidding, it’s a very cool concept to play with. But try the free version first and see if this alternate way of handling your desktop jives with your workflow.
Here is a little something to make your dull morning a little more exciting. Audi TV has just posted a commercial of the new 2010 Audi R8 Spyder V10 5.2 FSI quattro.
Believe us, it’s definitely worth taking out 3 minutes for (because you’ll watch it twice).
Refresher: Power for the Audi R8 Sypder 5.2 FSI quattro comes from a 5.2L FSI direct-injected V10 making 525-hp and a maximum torque of 391 lb-ft. Mated a 6-speed manual (with an available 6-speed R tronic automatic), 0 to 62 mph in 4.1 seconds with a top speed of 194 mph. Fuel-economy comes in at an estimated 16 mpg when mated to manual transmission and 17 mpg when mated to an automatic.
2010 Audi R8 Spyder:
2010 Audi R8 Spyder:
– By: Omar Rana
Vanessa Chaves
[email protected]
Más de 5 mil nuevos puestos de trabajo se crearon el año pasado por la llegada de empresas al país y por la reinversión de algunas ya instaladas.
Dichos empleos fueron generados por empresas de dispositivos médicos, de manufactura y de alta tecnología de servicios, que sumaron $304 millones de inversión y representan el 80% de los puestos de trabajo del sector.
Los servicios compartidos, centros de contacto y diseño de software e ingeniería entre otros, han sido en los últimos cinco años los de mayor dinamismo.
Prueba de ello es que de las 29 empresas que arribaron en 2009, 15 corresponden a la rama de servicios. Además dos ya instaladas decidieron ampliar operaciones.
También en camino de desarrollo se encuentra la industria de dispositivos médicos, que captó seis nuevas operaciones el año pasado.
Una de ellas fue la compañía Establishment Biotech, que tomó la decisión de contar con instalaciones de implantes mamarios, de cara y otros. La inversión fue de $10 millones.
Las exportaciones de empresas de este tipo en Zona Franca al tercer trimestre de 2009 crecieron un 12% con respecto al mismo periodo de 2008. Lo anterior a pesar de que el total de exportaciones de bienes bajo este régimen cayó un 8% el año pasado.
En el caso de la industria de manufactura avanzada, no se dio una situación de crecimiento. En materia de empleo, a pesar de que se generara un poco más de 900 nuevos puestos, el año cerró con una reducción de 38 empleos debido a los recortes de algunas empresas.
Proveniente de esta industria se instaló el año pasado el proyecto Optolum dedicado a la fabricación de lámparas especiales para iluminación de comercios de lujo.
Para este año la Coalición Costarricense de Iniciativas de Desarrollo (Cinde) espera que se generen 6 mil nuevos empleos promovidos por 25 nuevos proyectos que podrían arribar al país.
Hay una serie de iniciativas en potencia. Hemos tenido visitas de empresas de manufactura y de servicio que están evaluando el país. En los últimos meses hubo un movimiento interesante de potenciales inversionistas dijo Gabriela Llobet, directora general de Cinde.
Para continuar fortaleciendo al país como un destino de inversión, fueron mencionados cuatro aspectos en los cuales se debe trabajar: el fortalecimiento del recurso humano, el mejoramiento de la infraestructura, la tramitomanía y la seguridad.
El manejo del inglés es recalcado de suma importancia, pero de igual manera es indispensable mejorar las condiciones sociales para disminuir la criminalidad e inseguridad ciudadana.
En cuanto a los trámites, las horas, días y semanas que un empresario dura en Costa Rica para establecer su empresa, es tiempo que su competencia en otra parte del mundo lo dedica a producir más y mejorar la calidad, dijo Alberto Trejos, presidente de Cinde.