"If we can learn from a country, I would say India, it the point of reference...": Costa Rica Minister on AI Summit

New Delhi [India], February 20 (ANI): Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of ethical, inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance "the right message to be conveyed at this time," Costa Rica's Minister of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications, Paula Bogantes Zamora on Friday praised India's leadership in leveraging AI for national development.
Speaking with ANI on the sidelines of the summit, Bogantes said that Artificial Intelligence must be a key consideration for governments aiming to strengthen their economies and ensure inclusive growth.
"That is the right message to be conveyed at this time. It's undoubted that AI needs to be an element that every government needs to consider when talking about developing the country's economy," she said.
She was answering a query on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on ethical and inclusive AI.
In his inaugural address at the Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled India's comprehensive 'MANAV Vision' for artificial intelligence, outlining a human-centric framework for ethical, accountable and inclusive AI governance.
The Costa Rica Minister lauded the summit being held in a Global South country for the first time.
"I'm very happy to know that this is the first time the AI summit is done in a Global South country. And what better example than India? I think that for every one of us who has come from other countries, one of my takeaways is the right implementation that India has done on AI. If we can learn from a country, I would say India is the--the point of reference," she said.
The Costa Rican minister also highlighted India's advancements in integrating AI into education, healthcare and digital transformation, noting that for smaller economies like Costa Rica, the summit has been a valuable learning platform.
"We came here with a goal of learning how AI can help us improve our education system, and India is one example of that. Health in India is a reference to that. Digital transformation. And you're such a big country. So for countries with small economies like Costa Rica, this has been a terrific event. We've learnt so much," she said.
Emphasising Costa Rica's focus areas, Bogantes said her government has been prioritising education and healthcare in its AI roadmap. However, she stressed the need to build greater efficiency and technical capacity.
"We have been focusing on education and health for the obvious reasons. But we do know also that unless we utilise AI to become more efficient, to train more engineers or more STEM careers, more certifications...this is something that India has been doing quite well," she said.
She added that Costa Rica is now assessing the structural changes needed in its education system to meet global demand for AI-related capabilities.
"What we're trying to understand now is taking or understanding our structure when it comes to education--what changes should we start doing to meet the world's demand when talking about capabilities," she said. (ANI)