From The Tico Times

President Oscar Arias recently confirmed plans to meet with Microsoft founder Bill Gates as well as Colombian President Alvaro Uribe during a visit to Colombia March 19.

“I’m going to ask Bill Gates, through his company, to give technical support to our country… because we can’t cast aside technology,” Arias said in a statement from Casa Presidencial.

Gates is scheduled to be the main speaker at the assembly of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) in Cartagena, Colombia, March 16-19, and Microsoft plans to host a simultaneous forum with 150 leaders from the technology sector to analyze developing countries’ access to technology.

Arias said he also plans to present Gates his Costa Rica Consensus, a plan to reduce developing countries’ military spending by rewarding them with debt forgiveness.