Associate countries
On November 24, President Colom has officially launched the World Bank-supported Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) in Guatemala. As an "Associate Country," Guatemala is the first Latin American country to benefit from the initiative. The high-profile launch event featured speeches from the President as well as the Ministers of Finance and Public Works, and the Chairman of the CoST International Advisory Group, Christiaan Poortman. The entire CoST Multi-Stakeholder Group – consisting of public sector representatives and representatives from the National Chamber of Construction, the Engineering’s Association, the local Transparency International Chapter and the largest public university – was present to show its support to the initiative. The substantial local media coverage of the event and the initiative reflects this high-profile participation. With this political backing, the MSG is now tasked with identifying pilot projects and the necessary institutional arrangements to implement the initiative.
The work is supported by the World Bank.
