Recommended actions to foster the adoption of Corporate Social ...

industry accounts for 30 percent and servicesaccount for 57 percent. 52 Unemployment in Colombiais 13.6 percent of the total labor force.Inflation has been falling notably since 1991, from26.8 percent in that year to single digit rates since1999. It fell to 6 percent in 2002. This drop wasachieved thanks to policies instigated by the Bankof the Republic in coordination with the nationalgovernment and was also boosted by low levels ofinternal demand (FTAA, 2003).In 2005, a survey on SME behaviors and employers’opinions in Colombia, conducted by the Corporationfor Technological and Socioeconomic Investigation inColombia (Corporacion para la InvestigaciónSocioeconómica y Tecnológica de Colombia 53 ), showsthat SME economic conditions are improving: 38percent of them increased exports, 35 percent hirednew employers and 66 percent created (indirectly)employment in the last year.The following chart shows competitivenessindicators supplied by the World Economic Forum(WEF). All data is from 2005 and the chart is sortedby indicator ranking. The chart shows that taxrates, the business costs of crime and violence,bureaucratic regulation, the low quality of scientificresearch institutions and technological readiness arethe main obstacles to Colombia’s competitiveness.In contrast, research and development capabilities,innovation and the employment of women arecontributing to improve Colombia’s competitiveness.OrganizationIndexNumber of Countriesin the IndexColombia’s RankingWEFUniversity/industry researchcollaboration 117 30WEFPrivate sectoremployment of women 117 36WEFCompany spending onresearch and development 117 39WEF Capacity for innovation 117 49WEF Reliability of police services 117 52WEF Hiring and firing practices 117 52WEF Efficiency of legal framework 117 58WEF Local equity market access 117 58WEF Global Competitiveness 11758 (5 out of 21in Latin America)WEFTime required tostart a business 117 61WEF Technological readiness 117 70WEFQuality of scientific researchinstitutions 117 76WEFNumber of proceduresrequired to start a business 117 92WEF Business costs of violence 117 97WEF Extent and effect of taxation 117 100WEFBusiness costsof organized crime 117 11552 Colombian agricultural activity suffered a serious decline due to security problems and the revaluation of the exchange rate to real levelswhich continued into 1998. From then on, the correction of the exchange rate, the creation of credit instruments for the agricultural sector,and the current security policy have revitalized the sector without, however, solving the problems of rural poverty that accumulated duringthe 1990s. (FTTA, 2003)53 Corporacion para la Investigacion Socioeconomica y Tecnologica de Colombia is a non-profit organization that implements projectsin environmental, social, technological and economic areas with the aim to promote SMEs.66 Recommended actions to foster the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)