By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Ministry of Foreign Trade announced Tuesday that a delegation of seven deputies of the Legislative Assembly will go to an official visit to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which will take place today through Friday in Paris, France.

According to the ministry, the Legislative Assembly will be responsible for the payment of plane tickets and lodging for only two deputies.

The expenses of remaining five deputies "will be covered by the ministry, and the Embassies of Canada and the United Kingdom," said the ministry in its statement.

Canada and the United Kingdom financed part of the trip of the five deputies "because these are the member countries of the organization that, like others, have been supporting the process of entering Costa Rica to the OECD through technical cooperation," said the ministry in its statement.

The deputies who will be in Paris this week are:

- Ana Lucía Delgado, of the National Liberation Party.

- Carolina Hidalgo of the government Citizen Action Party.

- Erick Rodriguez, independent deputy.

- Ivonne Acuña, independent deputy.

- Ma. Inés Solís of the Christian Social Unity Party.

- Mileidy Alvarado of the National Renovation Party.

- Otto Roberto Vargas of the Christian Social Republican Party.

According to the ministry, the deputies will participate in a series of meetings with experts from the OECD.

The president of the Legislative Assembly, Carlos Ricardo Benavides, said, referring to the Paris meetings, on the agenda of this year's event are issues of great relevance to the committees that are evaluating the process of joining the organization, such as inclusive growth, the fight against corruption, transformations in the world of work, among others.



Related to the government actions in France, as A.M. Costa Rica reported on Tuesday, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute promoted the country as a tourist destination at the Top Resa Fair, which took place four days last week in France.


According to the institute, the country's participation in the fair is part of the strategy to develop the European tourist market for Costa Rica.

In previous editions, the statistics of the fair have reported an attendance of more than 34,000 visits by tourism professionals. 1,700 brands related to tourism services have also been presented, and 160 places have been promoted as tourist destinations, said the institute.

"The professional visitors are French travel agents, product managers, agents specializing in events, business trip managers, tour group organizers," among others, said the institute in its statement.

Costa Rican companies that were supported by the institute to have a stand at the fair were: Hotel Tango Mar, Altatica, Mawamba Group, Cactus Tour, Go Tours, Morpho Evasions Costa Rica, Enchanting Hotels, Destination Services, Playa Cativo Lodge, Horizontes Nature Tours, Laguna Lodge Tortuguero, Tucaya Costa Rica, Barcelo Group, Cast Central America, Grupo Anc Costa Rica and Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge.

In addition, Maria Amalia Revelo, minister of Tourism participated in three events convened by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris: a meeting of its Tourism Committee; a private breakfast with the secretary-general of the organization, Angel Gurría and a meeting considering the start-up of welfare metrics in political actions.

According to Revelo, the Tourism Committee discussed the need to guide the organization member countries and prepare them to better face the challenges posed by new technologies in the tourism sector.

"Costa Rica was applauded at the round table on well-being in recognition of obtaining the Earth Champions Award granted by the United Nations Organization last week," said the institute in its statement.

At the meeting, there were also representatives of the United Arab Emirates, Finland, Scotland and New Zealand.


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Is it in your country normal that another government pays the official travel expenses of the deputies?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com

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