|
 |
|
|
|
Este informe no está disponible en español. CARIBBEAN BUSINESS Majority Flunks Calderon Administration On Handling Of The EconomyRecent Poll Shows 56% Rate As ‘Terrible’ The Results Of Her Economic Development Program By CB STAFF July 10, 2003 An overwhelming 83% of respondents to the most recent PuertoRicoWOW / CARIBBEAN BUSINESS Internet poll rated the results of the Calderon administration’s economic development program as "bad" or "terrible." "Two-and-a-half years into the Calderon administration, how would you rate the results of her economic development program?" the poll asked visitors to the Internet in late June. Out of a total 384 respondents, only 14, or 3.7% said the results were "excellent"; 51, or 13.3% said they were "good"; 104, or 27.1% thought they were "bad"; and a whopping 215, or 56%, said they were "terrible." According to recent studies, there are approximately one million Internet users in Puerto Rico. As with prior PuertoRicoWOW / CARIBBEAN BUSINESS polls, once a visitor has voted from one computer, the site will not accept repeated votes from the same computer. Results were tallied as of 1:00 p.m. Friday, July 4. The poll results come in the wake of an announcement by Gov. Calderon at the Chamber of Commerce convention two weeks ago that measures taken by her administration have already resulted in a slight improvement in the local economy. She pointed to an 8.2% increase in retail sales during the first quarter of 2003, the completion of 24 tourism projects, an estimated economic growth of 1.7% for fiscal year 2003 (ended June 30) and a projected 2.4% growth for fiscal year 2004 as positive results of her administration’s economic development efforts. In her speech, the governor outlined a 16-point plan to spur the island’s economic development during the remaining 18 months of her administration. Although the governor offered few details of the plan, she did say that it would seek to reduce the cost of doing business in Puerto Rico, provide additional financing and technical support to local entrepreneurs, expand currently available economic incentives to the manufacturing industry and speed up the government permit process. "These initiatives are the result of dialogue between the government and the private sector, in which most of you participated," Calderon told her audience. This Caribbean Business article appears courtesy of Casiano Communications.
|
