CINDE to attract more Foreign Investment into Costa Rica

By the Costa Rica News

In recent years, Costa Rica has emerged as one of the most attractive and safest destinations for foreign investment in Latin America.

Costa Rica’s stable democracy, quality of educational system, strategic location, excellent business climate, quality of infrastructure, and quality of life are some of the reasons why many international companies have chosen Costa Rica as an investment site.

In 2001, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) represented 5% of the country’s GDP and FDI per capita reached $456, according to data provided by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE).

FDI in Costa Rica is geared towards efficiency seeking investment and positioning Costa Rica as an export platform.

The government continues to make great efforts to accomplish these goals. This week, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Anabel González, travelled to Chicago with several representatives from CINDE, including General Director Gabriela Llobet, to pursue a two day agenda to promote Costa Rica as a competitive destination for foreign companies in high-technology sectors.

On Monday, González met with representatives from several Life Sciences companies that already operate in Costa Rica.

“We consider it is very important to visit the headquarters of the companies that are already established in the country in order to further strengthen our relationship with them and explain first-hand the different initiatives that we are developing in Costa Rica to promote the development of this particular sector,” said the Minister.

On Tuesday morning, CINDE organized a breakfast meeting with 30 investors and consulting firms at the downtown hotel in Chicago. During the meeting, representatives from two multinational companies that currently operate in Costa Rica shared their testimony about the benefits of investing in the country. Also, the Minister discussed the competitive advantages of Costa Rica and the evolution high-tech sectors have achieved in the country.

According to CINDE’s General Director, Gabriela Llobet, this business trip is part of the promotion strategy planned for 2012 to position Costa Rica as the best destination for foreign investment in Latin America.
“The company visits and the event we have organized will allow us to communicate relevant information to key decision makers from the big multinational companies. It will also allows us to reach out to consulting firms that give support to global companies looking for new locations to set up operations. We are trying to position Costa Rica as one of the top locations because of its strong and solid value proposition,” explained Llobet.

This trip to Chicago is one more of the promotion efforts made by the Costa Rican Government to attract Foreign Direct Investment.

Several promotion events have been organized this year, as well as company visits in China, Korea, India, Germany, North Carolina, and now Chicago.

In 2011 CINDE attracted 34 new investment projects, which together with the expansion of the existing operations, generated 7,728 new job opportunities.

Over 200 global companies are currently taking advantage of the benefits that Costa Rica offers.

Costa Rica has consolidated as a world-class location especially for high-technology multinational companies in the areas of advance manufacturing, clean technologies, life sciences, services, and others.

Read the full story in the The Costa Rica News (TCRN)

Costa Rica ranks no. 2 for foreign investment in Central America and the Carribean

Costa Rica has just been ranked as the number 2 most attractive country for foreign investment in Central America and the Caribbean.

It ranked just 3 points short of Puerto Rico according to a study “Countries of the future for Foreign Investment 2009-2010″. This analysis is conducted every two years, by the IDF Magazine, a publication specializing in the field of foreign investment produced by the Financial Times Publishing Group.

Local talent and the country strategy to attract foreign companies listed as the main advantages.

The evaluation included analysis of seven categories:

• economic potential
• human resources
  
• cost effectiveness
  
• quality of life
  
• infrastructure
  
• friendly business climate
  
• attracting investment strategy
  

Invest In Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a country open for business and particularly to foreign investment. The Costa Rican government and its laws specifically encourage direct foreign investment.

This attitude pro-business attitude is shared by the two major political parties and has been actively implemented since the early eighties. Over the past 15 years the continual improvement of conditions destined to attract foreign companies has been the "Costa Rican trademark".

To support this effort, Costa Rican Investment and Trade Development Board (CINDE), a private non-profit organization, was set up to assist and guide investors and companies in the set up of their operations in Costa Rica.

A further step on this effort was the establishment of legislation to provide significant tax and operational incentives to companies in export related activities. These particular incentives are: the export contract, the free zone and the temporary admission system, all of which include total or partial tax exemptions and expedite customs clearance services among other simplified operational aspects.

Costa Rican laws, regulations and practices foster competition and do not discriminate between locals and foreigners, for the conduct of business. The only exceptions to this are the entities that are constitutionally precluded from total foreign ownership such as telecommunications, energy generation and insurance. Tax, labor, health and safety laws are also business and investment positive and are designed to help rather than to hinder.

This investment-friendly climate and government policy of making Costa Rica "the Silicon Valley of Latin America" has enticed commercial leaders such as Acer, Microsoft, GE, Abbot Laboratories, Continental Airways and Intel Corporation to make sizable investments here, both financially and physically, with major production and distribution facilities.

Western Union has chosen Costa Rica to host its Latin American regional operations center.
Costa Rica is now earns more from high technology exports (electoronics, pharmaceuticals and software) than from coffee, bananasm, pineapples or even its lucrative, thriving tourism industry.

The World Bank has given Costa Rica an excellent bill of overall political and economic health. The bank lauded the country as possessing "one of the most stable and robust" democracies in Latin America. It went on to praise the Costa Rica's "healthy economic growth rate" and "some of the best social indicators" on the continent.

The Economist Intelligence unit in March of this year listed Costa Rica as the 7th most politically and socially stable country on the planet - an ideal country in which to invest.

According to a report issued by the CINDE, thirty multinational firms set up new offices in Costa Rica in 2008, bringing $428 million in investment. A number of IT multinational companies (Intel, Microsoft) and pharmaceutical multinational companies (Abbot Laboratories, Johnson, Merck Sharp and Dome) have set up production units in Costa Rica. Companies such as Procter and Gamble, HP and Dell have also installed their regional customer service offices for the American continent in San José. In addition an important high quality textile industry has been developed.

The government maintains an open environment towards foreign investment especially in the high technology end. Generally speaking, foreign investment is concentrated in manufacturing (45%) and agriculture (25%, mainly banana and coffee interests). Other investments are placed in the railways, tobacco, communications, airlines, government bonds, and real estate. The US, Costa Rica's major foreign investor (78% in 1998), has interests chiefly in computer chip manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum refining, and distribution, utilities, cement, and fertilizers. The continued high level of trade with the US has been conducive to private foreign investment, especially in export industries. Investment incentives include constitutional equal treatment guarantees and free trade zones. Foreign direct investment in Costa Rica in 1998 was $530 million, or 5% of GDP.

Another industry that has been strongly flourishing in Costa Rica is the opening of medical equipment manufacturing companies. Foreign investors have not only found that Costa Rica’s political environment is stable and offers attractive incentives, but that the workforce is one of the most highly educated in the region.

Foreign investment is also strong in the real estate and hospitality industry. Costa Rica hotels have grown to include large exclusive beach resorts in the Northern Pacific Coast visited by high profile business people and Hollywood stars.

Costa Rica has enjoyed an average income that is among the highest in the region. And Costa Rica enjoys the fame as the Safest Latin American Country for Multinational Investment.

Now Costa Rica has already done so much and is ripe for foreign investment politically and physically. Costa Rica is building a competitive advantage for itself and the many high-tech companies who have chosen or are pondering the option to operate here. It is a country at a turning point in integrating itself into the modern world economy.

Costa Rica - the principal emerging economy in Central America