PIA reacts to Puerto Rico’s credit downgrade
The Pharmaceutical Industry Association of Puerto Rico (PIA) expressed “extreme concern” with the critical situation Puerto Rico is facing will be going through in the near future, magnified by the recent credit downgrade by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, which the trade group said will “require us to make essential changes in the way the government and the private sector interact.”
“We believe that neither the government, nor the private sector alone will be able to fix the problems. This crisis will take years to fix, and there are no easy solutions or short-term measures, so we have to work together,” the group said in a statement issued late last week.
“Through this turbulent process, we all must assure that while trying to solve the short term financial challenges, we do not put at risk our medium and long term capability to generate economic growth and maximize the opportunities to take the island out of the current recession,” said PIA President Camilo Gómez.
Government must be an enabler of economic development through the attraction of local and foreign investment, streamlining the business generation processes and promoting a certain and stable business environment.
“The representatives of our constituents can’t take short sighted decisions in a unilateral manner and expect that such actions will generate long term economic development,” the PIA executive said. “It’s of the essence to bring back the certainty and partnership environment to our business partners that have served us well in the past as and will do into the future.”
PIA represents the 15 research-based biopharmaceutical companies operating in Puerto Rico.
