Philips company representatives met Monday afternoon with Costa Rica’s Minister of Science and Technology Alejandro Cruz to discuss the potential of Costa Rica in the field of life sciences. Philips representatives said that one of the attractions of investing in Costa Rica is for its human capital in terms of academic and industry experience. This meeting was one of a number of visits the representatives made to various people in the country to talk about investing.
“We do not want to be only a manufacturing company; our main interest is in human capital and the development of people. This is our added value, “said David Mroz, Senior Director of Operations in the West.
Along with Mr. Mroz were Jeff Hirsch: Director of International Operations Asia, Eric Kulikowski: Senior Optimization Supply Chain and Tim Vogel: Project Manager as they met with Minister Cruz and Deputy Minister Keilor Rojas as well as the directors of Digital Technologies and Promotion of Science at MICIT Santiago Nunez and Alejandro Hernandez.
The field of life sciences is tangential to the priority areas of the National Science, Technology and Innovation for 2011-2014 and notably, according to the Coalition of Development Initiatives (CINDE), exports in this industry represent about 30% of total national exports each year.
For these reasons one of the missions of MICIT is to be the bridge that links industry with academia to coordinate research as well as human resource potential for the future Costa Rican market and provide industrial development opportunities for quality jobs.
The Philips reps were interested in discovering the currently available skills of technicians and engineers in the country and how Costa Rica is developing potential through MICIT activities.
As part of its strategy along these lines MICIT had signed a “declaration of public interest” in the Biomedical Devices Industry for the development of a manufacturing chain for medical devices for the purpose of positioning the market to import and export supplies necessary for the consolidation of this industry.
Along with other development activities MICIT has created the Club of Young Talent to promote human resources in the scientific vocations.
Philips, a leader in healthcare, has diversified into healthcare products and is focused on improving the quality of life through innovations that integrate technology and design.
