Project assistance completion report : International Executive Service Corps (IESC) -- project no. 515-0257

IESC succeeded in helping local companies to overcome production, quality, management, and market constraints. A 1993 evaluation concluded that 93% of the companies assisted by IESC had improved their technology, reduced production costs, increased efficiency, upgraded quality standards, or strengthened their management capability. More than 20% of the companies surveyed had increased exports. In all, IESC assisted 69 companies and institutions (80% of target); approximately 75% of the volunteer assistance was provided to companies and institutions working for the nontraditional export (mostly industrial export) market. IESC completed 20 (vs. 18 targeted) American Business Linkage Enterprise (ABLE) projects (in which an IESC volunteers worked in the United States to investigate problem for Costa Rican firms). The Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE) became IESC's main client, requiring 40% of IESC's assistance. CINDE's projects had a multiplier effect, as each IESC volunteer working with CINDE collaborated with 3-6 companies recruited by CINDE's Impulso Industrial Program aimed at developing local export capacity. However, as CINDE's programs became smaller due to the elimination of USAID funding, CINDE reduced and finally eliminated requests for IESC assistance. Restrictive conditions in the Costa Rican economy further reduced the demand for IESC services. After the grant ended, the price of IESC services rose, and only 5 projects were initiated in 1995, vs. 30 during each of the grant years. The client profile also changed, as only the larger companies could now afford IESC services (under the grant USAID subsidized 66% of the costs for beneficiary firms).