Municipalities will be once again Evaluated to Measure Competetivity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2011-04-01
USAID Strategic Development Office: (503) 2501-3471
U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section: (503) 2501-2471
www.usaid.gov/sv

USAID Program Manager, Sandra Lorena Duarte, together with USAID and ESEN representatives, in the launching of the 2011 Municipal Competitiveness Index.

SAN SALVADOR– The U.S. Government, through its Agency for International Development (USAID), presented the steps for the construction of the 2011 Municipal Competitiveness Index (MCI) this morning as part of the USAID Municipal Competitiveness Project. The objective of the 2011 MCI is to evaluate the economic, social, and governance conditions of 108 municipalities in El Salvador in order to look for ways to support these municipalities.

First carried out in 2009, the MCI collects information on a variety of factors, including: the cost of business startup; transparency and access to information; security costs; and mayors’ leadership. Its methodology consists of measuring aspects such as thetime required to complete applications and procedures in municipal offices, types of municipal taxes, and customer service in municipal offices.

The information collected by the Superior School for Economy and Business (ESEN) and the U.S. organization RTI, an implementing partner of USAID, allows for the measurement of how competitive municipalities are and how favorable the municipal climate is for investors and businesses. Additionally, the Index seeks to contribute to raising awareness among mayors about the importance of an environment favorable to the business sector; it also hopes to promote healthy competition between municipalities in order to improve local policies and allow for development.

In the 2009 MCI, Antiguo Cuscatlán in La Libertad, Texistepeque, San Pedro Masahuat, and Conchagua were ranked the highest by their constituents. The 2011 MCI will be carried out from April to August of this year, and will include eight new municipalities in the microregions of Nueva Guadalupe, Comasagua, Alegría, Santa María Ostuma, San Bartolomé Perulapía, Santa Cruz Michapa, Talnique and Caluco. Once the study has concluded, the results will be presented to mayors and communities across the country.

The USAID Municipal Competitiveness Project seeks to promote the creation of a business environment adequate for productive investment and the creation of local jobs. As a result of the changes suggested by the MCI, it is hoped that there will be improvements in municipal governance that contribute to bettering people’s lives, generating employment, attracting investment, widening the tax base, and improving the quality of municipal service coverage.

The launching of the new study was presided over by USAID Program Officer, Sophie Taintor; USAID Program Director, Sandra Lorena Duarte; USAID Municipal Competitiveness Project Director, José Luis Trigueros; Interim director of the ESEN, Everardo Rivera, and the Director of Research of the ESEN, Carlos Carach.