In an eventful week for Central America, the region has found itself at the crossroads of sporting ambition and business excellence. As the waves of Punta Rocas, Lima, Peru, prepare to host the youth ISA World Surfing Championship from December 5 to December 15, 2025, another wave—this time of entrepreneurial achievement—was celebrated in Panama City on December 3, where the fifth edition of the Best Central American Companies (MECA) program recognized the region's top private enterprises.
The ISA World Surfing Championship, a much-anticipated annual gathering, has confirmed the participation of national teams from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama. Each country arrives with its own set of strengths and challenges. According to reporting from Surfing Latinoamérica, Panama will field a full team without repeating any surfers, a notable feat in youth sports. Costa Rica also brings a complete team, though two of its surfers will compete in more than one category. Meanwhile, Nicaragua and Guatemala, despite their smaller delegations, are determined to make their mark.
Looking back at last year's championship, the Central American squads finished in a tight cluster: Costa Rica secured 17th place, Panama landed at 21st, Nicaragua took 29th, and Guatemala rounded out the group at 31st. These results, while modest, have not dampened the region's enthusiasm. If anything, they have fueled a sense of camaraderie and determination among the young athletes.
The Costa Rican team, for instance, is composed of Sub 18 men Dencell Reyes, Romeo Stone, and Ethan Hollander; Sub 18 women Erika Berra, Mikela Castro, and Lucía Cristi; Sub 16 men Amets Garai, Kian Jirón, and Carden Jagger; and Sub 16 women Mikela Castro, Lucía Cristi, and Zoe Ruiz. Panama, not to be outdone, will send Sub 18 men Chamir Thomas, Anthoni Gil, and Moisés Zebede; Sub 18 women Isabella Goodwin, Belen Elizondo, and Lucía Rodríguez; Sub 16 men Víctor Camarena, Kalany Camarena, and Gabriel Cabrera; and Sub 16 women Shakti Martínez, Kely Gasparovic, and Kira Coral Brady.
Guatemala and Nicaragua, though with fewer names on their rosters, are no less committed. Guatemala’s team features Anaí Porras in both Sub 18 and Sub 16 women’s categories, with Vito Porras representing Sub 16 men. Nicaragua’s delegation includes Sub 18 men Ratislav Jaso and Jack Krop, Sub 18 woman Maxima Resano, Sub 16 man Jack Krop, and Sub 16 woman Máxima Resano. For these countries, the championship is an opportunity not just to compete, but to inspire the next generation of surfers back home.
As these athletes prepare for the swells of Punta Rocas, another kind of preparation was taking place in the boardrooms of Panama City. There, the MECA program, steered by Deloitte, Grupo Promerica, and INCAE Business School, brought together business leaders from across Central America and the Caribbean to celebrate the region’s top-performing private companies. The event, held under the slogan “Impulsando lo extraordinario” (“Driving the Extraordinary”), reflected a deep commitment to strengthening the business ecosystem and fostering a culture of excellence and innovation.
According to El Mundo, more than 120 companies from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic applied for the 2025 edition of MECA. After a rigorous process—including over a thousand hours of pro-bono coaching from experts at Deloitte, Grupo Promerica, and INCAE Business School—a multidisciplinary committee selected 32 standout companies. These businesses were celebrated not just for their financial results, but for leadership, innovation, and a commitment to positive social impact.
Pilar Ruiz de Chávez, Socia Mejores Empresas de Latinoamérica, remarked, “There is something that the Best Central American Companies have in common: excellence and continuous improvement. Being a MECA does not depend on the country but on the commitment to do things well, with passion and purpose. To care for our people, to innovate, and to always seek to leave a positive mark.”
Among the findings of this year’s program, MECA noted that 63% of the recognized companies are family businesses, underscoring their significant role in the regional economy. Furthermore, 25% of these companies have women serving as CEOs—a sign of progress in gender inclusion and a reminder that there is still room to grow in pursuit of equity in senior management.
Rafael Sayagués, Socio Director del Marketplace Centroamérica, Panamá y República Dominicana at Deloitte, emphasized the strategic importance of medium-sized companies in the region’s economy. “We reaffirm our commitment to accompany them, once again, through this solid and high-impact initiative that offers support and tools to strengthen their management and accelerate their growth in the market,” he said.
The MECA celebration included a symposium on the use of Artificial Intelligence in business—a nod to the future-facing mindset of the region’s entrepreneurs—followed by an awards ceremony that shone a spotlight on the talent, resilience, and positive influence of the 32 honorees. Notably, seven Costa Rican companies were highlighted in various categories, including the prestigious Gold category, which recognizes businesses that have maintained excellence for five consecutive years.
Ramiro Ortiz, CBO of Grupo Promerica, offered a broader perspective: “We believe in a stronger, more equitable, and sustainable region. That’s why we will continue to promote initiatives like MECA, which strengthen the business ecosystem and promote responsible leadership in Central America.”
In the spirit of continuous improvement, both recognized and finalist companies received comprehensive feedback reports prepared by multidisciplinary experts. These reports allowed each business to identify key strengths, benchmark their performance against peers, and gather recommendations for accelerating growth and fostering ongoing improvement.
Carla Fernández Corrales, Senior Director of Executive Education and INCAE Online, summed up the program’s impact: “Through the MECA initiative, INCAE reaffirms its commitment to the talent and vision of medium-sized companies that drive regional development, strengthening their leadership, innovation, and international projection toward a new standard of global competitiveness.”
Diana Espinoza, Leader of Best Central American Companies, added, “With the close of our fifth edition, we celebrate the companies that, with leadership and transformation, are generating a positive impact in their communities. Since 2021, together with Deloitte, Grupo Promerica, and INCAE, we have proven that leading with purpose generates a lasting and necessary social impact for the development of our region.”
As the region’s surfers ready themselves for the world stage and its business leaders celebrate hard-earned recognition, Central America finds itself buoyed by a shared pursuit of excellence—whether on the waves or in the marketplace. These parallel stories of youthful energy and entrepreneurial vision offer a glimpse of a region determined to make its mark, one wave and one business at a time.
