About the Seminar

With a population of slightly over five million people, and located in Central America, between Panama to the South and Nicaragua to the North, Costa Rica  offers a unique example of outstanding governance and progressive policies on labour, education, health, the environment and the exercise of democratic rights. It is a solid democracy that ranks much higher on human development indicators than countries at similar levels of development. The consolidation of democratic institutions dates back to the end of a civil war towards the middle of the twentieth century, making it arguably the country with the longest period of stability across Latin America. In what may be a unique initiative the end of the Civil War in 1949 was followed by the abolition of the army.

Long before the rest of the world was even thinking about environmental concerns and prior to the Kyoto protocol and the Paris agreement, Costa Rica was implementing the equivalent of ‘carbon taxes’ to reduce its carbon ‘footprint’. By 2019, 99%  of electricity was generated from renewable sources. The Costa Rican economy has been steadily moving up the value added chain. A large number of multinationals have invested in free trade zones. The economy is dominated by services,  including finance, corporate services and ecotourism. A number of pharmaceutical companies have set up base in the country. A strong advocate of multilateralism and free trade, Costa Rica has signed a number of free trade agreements across the world, including the US, Canada, Mexico, China, the EU and several countries in Latin America. It is an active participant in multilateral fora.

Ambassador Rojas will trace the evolution of Costa Rica’s remarkable development journey, the elements in the political system and among the leadership that catalysed its progressive socioeconomic journey, and its distinct place in the region and the world. He will address the challenges Costa Rica faces in a shifting geopolitical environment and the risks faced by a small country confronting a fraying environment for multilateralism.

About the Speaker

Victor Hugo Rojas Gonzalez is an expert in International Affairs and Political Communication. He has advised the Presidents, Miguel Angel Rodríguez (Costa Rica), Abel Pacheco (Costa Rica), Enrique Bolaños (Nicaragua), Manuel Zelaya (Honduras), Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (Peru) and State Ministers, on political and government communication campaigns in Latin America and candidates at the local, regional, and national levels.

He has over 25 years of experience in strengthening international political organizations of electoral processes in Latin America and Central Asia; Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Tajikistan, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, and Peru. Ambassador Rojas possesses extensive knowledge of resources and donor organizations, as a result of having worked with organizations such as the National Foundation for Democracy of the United States of America (NED), in the area of political communication; in management and implementation of projects for Private Non-profit Organizations (PVOs), Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs; and for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

He served as Resident Director of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in Peru, concurrent in Bolivia and Ecuador. He has been a consultant for projects of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), and consulting firms Greenberg, Quinlan Rosner, Albright Stonebridge Group was also advisor to the Coalition of First Ladies and Women Leaders of Latin America about Woman and AIDS. He is a historian with a specialization in political marketing. Since December 2019 Mr Rojas is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Singapore.