This story was written by the ILO Newsroom For official ILO statements and speeches, please visit our “Statements and Speeches” section.

Costa Rica President attends International Labour Conference

Costa Rica’s President highlights the importance of decent work as a tool for economic growth. She spoke on the first day of the International Labour Conference.

Press release | 30 May 2012
Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla Miranda attending the opening of the ILO annual Conference
GENEVA (ILO News) - Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla Miranda attended the opening of the International Labour Conference (ILC), where she said that decent work can play a key role in strengthening crisis-hit economies.

”It is clear that decent work should be at the centre of macroeconomic, financial and growth policies, particularly within the context of the crisis and as part of the decent jobs pact”, she said at the annual conference in Geneva.

“Decent work is a fundamental pillar of the social contract on which our democracies are built,” she said.

“I am convinced that a policy of wage growth linked to improved productivity helps boost the economy, achieve a better distribution of wealth and improve workers’ welfare,” Ms Chinchilla told government, employers’ and workers’ representatives of the ILO’s 184 member states.

The creation of “more and better companies” is also needed so that “more and better jobs” can be created in order to achieve inclusive economic growth, she said. Referring to Costa Rica, she said: “Our vision and our goal is to continue investment in human development.”