Investments
What is FOMO? According to the popular website Wikipedia, Fear of missing out is the feeling of apprehension that one is either not in the know or missing out on information, experiences, or life decisions that could make one's life better. FOMO is also associated with a fear of regret, which may lead to concerns that one might miss an opportunity for a memorable event, or a profitable investment....
By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica We all love tax cuts. Therefore, it is understandable that many of you got very excited when you heard about the new laws governing importation and investment incentives designed to stimulate post-COVID investment in Costa Rica. It did not help that many trigger-happy lawyers, and certain media hyped it up as though it would take effect the n...
The current pandemic affecting the world generated an unexpected effect on the real estate market in Costa Rica. Despite travel restrictions and new requirements for tourists such as negative Covid-19 test or insurance with sufficient coverage in case of requiring extended stay due to illness; the truth is that the sale of properties has increased in recent months, especially in the areas near the...
Many expats coming to live or invest in Costa Rica decide or receive advice that creating a corporation is the best way to operate and protect their investment here. There are numerous reasons why they decide to proceed with that, but establishing a business, opening a bank account, or obtaining asset protection seem to be the most common ones. The initial process of a creating a new corporation i...
All owners of real estate property with a size greater than 900 square meters (almost 10,000 square feet) who want to segregate lots, could find themselves with an unpleasant surprise as of September 13th 2020. This is because the National Institute of Housing and Urbanism or INVU made an amendment to the Regulation of Fractions and Urbanizations, with which to carry out said segregations of lots...
Costa Rica celebrates 199 years of independence this September 15 dealing with Covid-19, historically high unemployment rates, and street demonstrations from gold miners in Abangares, Guanacaste. Gold miners of the area of Abangares blocked a sector of the Interamericana Norte street which connects to Monteverde and the road that leads to Cañas in Guanacaste for more than 24 hours not allowing ...
Covid 19 seems to be the most popular phrase of 2020 in Costa Rica and the entire world. This virus appeared as an unwanted host, destroying plans for education, health, jobs, and economic growth around the world. In Costa Rica, the impact has been very severe. Even before receiving this "new guest" the economy was showing signs of "pneumonia." aswell as taking into consideration that during 2019 ...
Over 5,800 Americans gave up their citizenship in the first half of 2020, compared to 2,072 Americans who renounced their citizenship in ALL of 2019. How many of them are heading to Costa Rica? Why did they decide to leave? CNN, Newsweek, NY Times and Fortune Magazine have all reported recently that Americans seem to be leaving the US in droves. Many are permanently giving up their citizenship,...
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle’s words are an example of a beacon that Costa Rica has followed for a long time: work in pursuit of excellence. A sample of that was a major milestone in the history of Costa Rica’s foreign direct investment (FDI) when INTEL set up its operations in the country in 1996. This opened a broad successful path refle...
Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has today changed the outlook on the Government of Costa Rica's ratings to negative from stable. Concurrently, Moody's has affirmed Costa Rica's B2 long-term issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings. The negative outlook reflects Costa Rica's increased funding risks due to higher borrowing requirements resulting from pandemic-related economic and fiscal sh...
Costa Rica Residency for Expats 101: Most Costa Rica residency applicants start off surfing the net for any articles they can find on the subject, particularly on Google where most of the results stem from sites with paid ads. Once devouring that information, some, unfortunately, think it safe to go it alone. If they speak Spanish, they currently have a 20% chance of success accompanied by off ...
Credit rating agency Fitch placed Costa Rica’s Issuer Default Ratings (IDR’s), which is basically an opinion on an issuer’s general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations, on rating watch negative (RWN), this gives the country anywhere from one to three months to resolve its public finances before lowering its already low rating. Costa Rica is currently rated as BB (elevated vulnerabilit...
The Global Competitiveness Report 2018 of the World Economic Forum is a study of the global economy. This year the Report was done with new methodology intended to offer insights into economies’ readiness for the future, social capital, endowment of disruptive businesses and debt concern, among other indicators to fully capture the dynamics of the global economy in the Fourth Industrial Revolution...
American credit rating agency Moody’s announced it has "placed the Government of Costa Rica's BA2 long-term issuer ratings and the Ba2 senior unsecured bond ratings on review for downgrade. Back in 2017, Moody’s had already downgraded Costa Rica’s government bond rating from BA1 to BA2, maintaining the negative outlook of the rating and pointing as the key driver behind the downgrade “the conti...
Microsoft is the first company that has confirmed it will be relocating its Costa Rica facilities to the “technological city” in San Jose, project that is being promoted by the Municipality of San Jose. Microsoft will be unifying its sales, operations and customer service business units and will install in a 21-floor tower that is being built in La Sabana, where the Universal store used to be....
The Institute of Pacific Ports in Costa Rica (INCOP) confirmed they received a proposal from the Costa Rican consortium CEPP Consultants to license the port of Quepos to transform it into a destination port for cruise ships. Executive President of JAPDEVA, Juan Ramón Rivera confirmed that the proposal involves an investment of close to $50 million dollars and would completely transform the port...
American credit rating agency Moody’s published its analysis in relation to the negotiations of the Costa Rican Government with the labor unions regarding the fiscal plan and stated that “even though dialogue is positive, the current social unrest is negative for Costa Rica since it complicates fiscal consolidation efforts” Moody’s highlighted the importance of the approval of the fiscal plan ...
In 1977 a Law took effect named Ley Sobre la Zona Marítimo Terrestre or Law about the Maritime Terrestrial Zone, with the purpose of regulating all those areas located in front of the beach all over the country as well as other relevant areas such as islands, mangroves and estuaries. The beach areas of Costa Rica have gained a high value in recent years, due in large part to the attraction they ha...
Costa Rica ranked 46 among 86 countries in the Global Illicit Trade Environment Index, and is in seventh place in the America's. “The Global Illicit Trade Environment Index is commissioned by the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) and produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)”, explains the Tracit.org website. “The Index evaluates 84 countries on their structural ca...
President Carlos Alvarado met this Thursday with over 250 representatives of multinational companies of the life sciences sector, corporate services, advanced manufacture and food industry, in a meeting organized by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE). The President confirmed the support and trust to the companies that bring direct foreign investment and recognized their social ...
Establishment Labs Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ESTA) commenced trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday and celebrated a successful first day with an offering size of 3,715,277 stocks at an opening price of $18.00 for a total of $66.8 million. With this initial transaction Establishment Labs intends to invest in a clinical study in the United States, informed daily La Nacion, with the purpose of...
The Costa Rican-America Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) presented their position with regards to the fiscal crisis in Costa Rica and the proposed solutions presented by the government. AmCham considers that the legislative procedure should include sufficient space for a political negotiation of the new elements present in the Law to Strengthen the Public Finances bill, and that this process “include...
Costa Rica's most valuable asset is still its own land. A number of persons and corporations have found that land development, lot segregation and construction of buildings and houses are a way to make good profits. There is a wide range of investing options in this field: houses, apartments, lots, farms, raw land, commercial buildings and beach areas just to name a few. However, there are also a ...
The Costa Rican-North American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) shared its criteria regarding the ten topics that should be considered as a priority during the first 100 days of Carlos Alvarado’s new government. “Working hand in hand with the government has always been one of our characteristics, proposing strategies and actions directed to strengthening the competitiveness of the country. As we ha...
A U.S. $400 million project is taking shape in the North of Moín, Limón, Costa Rica at the entrance to the Tortuguero Canals under the name "Casino City Caribe". The tourism project will consist of three hotels with a total 264 rooms, three casinos, 219 apartments, two convention and cultural centres with capacity for 150 people a full service marina and a helipad. Patti Rao Projects is the...
The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), a non-profit, apolitical organization in charge of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Costa Rica, received the presidential candidate of PAC, Carlos Alvarado, the vice-presidential candidate, Epsy Campbell, and other members of his work and communication team to discuss topics related to the country’s competitiveness, which are key fo...
The prestigious international magazine, The European, highlighted CINDE (The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency) as the best investment promotion agency in Latin America. During a visit to London, England, the Managing Director of CINDE, Jorge Sequeira, participated in an interview with the journalist Julie Macdonald, in which he spoke about the keys to Costa Rica's success in attracting i...
Xandari Hotel is a beautiful boutique hotel located in the area of Tacacori in Alajuela, initially it was a project created by a couple of architects from California, under the concept of sustainability, the conservation of native flora and fauna and the development of the local community, the hotel was later acquired by Muthoot Group. Xandari Hotel is located in a property of more than 16 hec...
The arrival of the first three port cranes to the Moin Container Terminal sends Costa Rica in route to becoming a regional leader in port services with a more efficient and safe operation for the import and export of products. The acquisition of these equipment marks a historic milestone, the cranes are unique in the country and will allow Costa Rica to provide for the first time services to Po...
Many expats in CR have some type of corporation registered in the country. There are numerous reasons why, but establishing a business, opening a bank account, or obtaining asset protection seem to be some of the most common ones. The main objective usually is to keep any personal liability separate from the corporation's patrimony and vice versa. It also allows the owner to include within the cor...
Making the decision to buy real estate is always exciting, especially if you are doing so in a foreign country for the first time. There are many aspects to take into consideration before you decide to invest in real estate, this applies for any country in the world, but if you are buying real estate in Costa Rica there are some particular pitfalls you should be aware of before you take the first ...
Costa Rica is this year’s best destination to retire according to International Living, the country’s many advantages continue to charm foreigners who choose to retire or relocate abroad. The great weather, the political and economic stability, its beautiful beaches and natural attractions as well as the friendliness of its people are just some of the reasons that make the country an attractive...
Individuals and companies that wish to build a house or are involved in the development of real estate projects of any kind, residential, commercial, tourist places, etc. may have to invest in an additional requirement, a hydrogeological study that has a cost of between US$5,000.00 and up to US$100,000.00. The new requirement (Matriz Genérica de Protección de Acuiferos or Generic Matrix for the...
The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE for its Spanish acronym) was recently designated as the best investment promotion agency in the world by the International Trade Centre (ITC). This is an organization created by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. CINDE’s case is used now as reference by ITC to create a comparative evaluation tool, specialized for other promoti...
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the world's leading luxury hospitality company, will assume management of a new collection of environmentally designed private villas and estate homes set to commence construction in February 2018. Construction completion is targeted for mid-Q4 2019. The announcement was made by US based investment firm Gencom. The exclusive enclave of 20 wholly owned properties...
The bill 19,744 of Electric Transportation was approved in first debate by Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly (Congress) after two years of being in discussion. The purpose of this bill is promoting the use of electric vehicles by making them more affordable, while also helping the environment and help the country reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2022, as these vehicles produce zero ...
Costa Rica will be the representative of the investment agencies of Central America and the Caribbean before the world's most important grouping of such organizations. The Coalición Costarricense de Iniciativas de Desarrollo (CINDE – 'Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency'), was elected today in Dubai as a member of the executive committee of WAIPA, an association comprised of more than 170 inve...
Costa Rica’s Treasury Department (Ministerio de Hacienda) will auction 10 properties located in the provinces of San José, Guanacaste and Limón as part of the measures taken by the Central Government to face deficit. The properties being auctioned were given to Treasury as payment for debts and others were transferred from other institutions. One of these properties is a 1,092 square meter (...
The developer company, of Ecuadorian origin, chose Costa Rica thanks to its good economic reputation in Central America and because it is home to important multinational companies worldwide, which generates greater market confidence. With an investment of US $ 45 million and the direct and indirect contracting of 200 people, the Furoinani Obras y Proyectos (FOP) real estate group starts operati...
Over 33,500 new jobs were created at multinational corporations based in Costa Rica between 2014 and 2016. These jobs were created by companies that newly set up operation or expanded their existing projects in the country, said Luis Gamboa Arguedas, president of the Costa Rican Development Initiatives Coalition (CINDE). During this period, the country racked up at least 118 such foreign inv...