FreeStockPhotos.biz SAO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global banks' departures from Latin America will go on as they attempt to improve their return on capital by changing strategies and lowering their exposure to the risk presented in some Latin American markets, Fitch Ratings says. Citigroup's Brazilian and Argentinean retail banking operations are the latest units for sale that exemplify this tre...

Source: IBIC Ames, Ia. – Iowa beef producers Scott Heater, Wapello, and Dean Black, Somers, participated in an Iowa Meat Trade Mission to Dominican Republic and Costa Rica in late February. Heater, chairman of the Iowa Beef Industry Council, explained that the mission was exploratory in nature to determine if there is additional market opportunities for U.S. quality beef in these Central Ameri...

Source: NUS Earlier this month, the National University of Singapore (NUS) welcomed Costa Rica's Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel González Sanz. Minister Gonzalez was in Singapore on an official visit to the NUS start-up incubator, Blk71. Minister González was hosted by NUS Enterprise CEO Dr Lily Chan, who gave a presentation on Blk71’s inception and the entrepreneurial pro...

Source: Convergys (San Jose, March 14, 2016) Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), global leader in customer management, revealed the expansion of their business in Costa Rica with a hiring commitment to support their growing customer service and technical operations. This expansion will help Convergys build upon its current staff by adding approximately 500 new highly specialized jobs in Custome...

(Archive) COSTA RICA STAR FINANCIAL NEWS BRIEF Costa Rica’s economy grew by 4.9 percent in the 12 months leading up to January, according to the latest data of the Monthly Economic Activity Index (IMAE), a rolling monthly measurement of annual (year on year) economic growth produced by Costa Rica’s Central Bank. January also marks the seventh consecutive month of economic growth in Costa...

Source: Green Motion Costa Rica  London, United Kingdom - 10 March 2016 -- British Airways from the 27th of April 2016 will be flying a direct route from the United Kingdom (London Gatwick Airport) to San Jose (SJO) in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. These direct flights are scheduled to take place twice a week during the summer and then increasing to three flights a week for those cra...

(FILE/ARCHIVE. Photo courtesy of Conarroz.) Costa Rica’s rice growers are urging President Luis Guillermo Solis against joining the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc which currently consists of its four founding member states: Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. Costa Rica began the process of accession to become the Alliance’s fifth full member state in 2014 during the administr...

(ICR/CRS Archive) On Wednesday, just one day after leaders of Costa Rica’s agricultural sector warned that some 500,000 jobs could be at risk should the country decide to move forward with plans for full membership in the Pacific Alliance, Costa Rica’s industrial and manufacturing leaders came out in support of the pact, saying that the Alliance would expand trade and access to international m...

A "pink and chic" Banca Kristal branch. (FILE/courtesy) Lawmakers from Costa Rica’s ruling Citizen Action Party (PAC) in the country’s Legislative Assembly questioned representatives from Costa Rica’s controversial women’s-only bank, Banca Kristal, a subsidiary of the State-owned Banco de Costa Rica (BCR), about the bank’s marketing and business practices on Wednesday. Critics of the “pink ...

Wikimedia Commons The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has certified Costa Rica as being free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, the director general of Costa Rica’s National Animal Health Service (SENASA) told reporters this week. “ Costa Rica has a solid basis for further growth in exports of beef and ensuring the health safety of consu...

Some 500,000 jobs in Costa Rica could be at risk should the country decide to move forward with plans for full membership in the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc which currently consists of its four founding member states: Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, agro leaders warned Tuesday. Costa Rica began the process of accession to become the Alliance’s fifth full member state in 201...

(Photo courtesy of Toyota) While most countries in the region have seen a significant slowdown in new vehicle sales, the sale of new model-year vehicles in Costa Rica increased 24.9 percent in 2015, according to the organizing committee of Expomovil 2016, an annual car show that brings together the country’s largest dealers offering their biggest discounts of the year to thousands of car buyer...

(Wikimedia Commons) Half of Costa Rica’s so-called “millennial” generation lacks any college or university education and yet manage to earn on average ¢405,335 per month (about US $775), according to an analysis by Amelia Rueda of data provided by the Continuous Employment Survey of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), the latest of which is based on the third quarter of 201...

A consortium comprising Ineco-ACCIONA Ingeniería and the Costa Rica Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) have signed an agreement for the provision of consulting services for the administrative, technical, legal and environmental management of the Transport Infrastructure Program (PIT) launched by the Costa Rica Government. Its objective is to modernise road and port infrastructures in th...

Source: UNDP United Nations Development Programme Press Release - One of the world’s biggest pineapple producing countries – Costa Rica – has officially adopted a widely endorsed action plan to tackle serious social and environmental concerns in this critical sector, worth US$ 800 million to the national economy. Agrochemical run-off into water sources is a key issue that the plan will targ...

RyanInc; Flickr Commons The Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Finance believes that Costa Rica applies a discriminatory excise tax on distilled spirits and alcoholic beverages. For this reason, the Committee is taking a careful look at historical trade agreements so that measures can be taken.   According to an official press release issued by the Committee:  ...

Wikimedia Commons MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arcos Dorados, the world’s largest McDonald’s franchisee operating in 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, is celebrating the successful rollout of its popular “Puertas Abiertas”, or “Open Doors”, program across the region. The program provides the opportunity for customers to tour McDonald’s kitchens and see firsthand the hig...

Panama Canal Panama City, Mar 1 (EFE).- GUPC, the consortium building the new Panama Canal locks, said that in the next two months it would conduct more than 2,000 trials in the Pacific and Caribbean sectors of the expanded waterway, focusing on gates, valves, electric power and control systems. Some systems are already being operated from the control towers and the buildings where machines...

Wikimedia Commons LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - Feb 25, 2016) - Pure Hospitality Solutions, Inc. (OTC PINK: PNOW), parent Company of the Central American-Caribbean online travel Agency (OTA) Oveedia (www.Oveedia.com), announced today that the Company has continued validation of its marketing plan, after receiving a small, but undeniable proof of interest in travel to Central America; in partic...

Source: British Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica On 2 February 2016, seven young women graduated from FEMBUZ (Female Entrepreneurs in Buffer Zones), a pilot project developed by Raleigh International with funding from the British Embassy San Jose. The programme was designed to strengthen the economic and social development of communities within protected areas in Costa Rica as well as to promot...

//TRW// By Greg Flakus Illustrative image. (Creative Commons) HOUSTON, TEXAS (VOA) World oil prices are likely to remain relatively low over the next year, but a new medium-term market report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) — the world's oil consumer body — predicts a big increase after that, with prices at around $80 a barrel, double what they are now. The report’s authors...

Pixabay Public Domain Coffee responsibly grown in a rain forest farm in Costa Rica will be showcased by a major Ontario university. York University’s annual fair trade fair will take place Wednesday, Feb. 24 in the Bear Pit near Central Square from 10am to 4pm. The fair will feature a range of fair trade products including arts and crafts, coffee and tea, chocolate, t-shirts and more. In ad...

A Brioche Doree in Paris Press Release by All Points PR - SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica – Travelers at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) can now visit the Parisian-style urban bakery café, Brioche Dorée, during every arrival and departure. The exciting new eatery at the airport serving Costa Rica’s capital city, San Jose, specializes in an impressive range of European café options. From fr...

United States Dept. of Justice Press Release - An Ohio man was sentenced to 108 months in prison for his role in laundering money for a Costa Rica-based “sweepstakes fraud” scheme that victimized U.S. residents, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina. ...

Wikimedia Commons PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., Feb. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As the cost of hip and knee replacement continues to vary across the United States and international borders, consumers – insurance carriers, employers and patients – are comparing the cost and quality of doctors and hospitals abroad to find the best options for care based on a new poll, the Medical Tourism Association® ...

OECD News Release - 15/02/16 - Costa Rica has made impressive economic, social and environmental progress, but further institutional and policy reforms will be necessary to ensure stronger and more inclusive growth, according to the first-ever OECD Economic Assessment of Costa Rica. ‌ The Assessment, presented in San José today by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría and Costa Rican President L...

(Photo courtesy of Casa Presidencial) Chinese loans to Latin American and Caribbean governments and the region's state-owned firms climbed sharply in 2015 despite the slowing Chinese economy, rising to US $29 billion and focused once again on Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador, the Inter-American Dialogue public policy think tank said in its annual report issued this month. From nuclear power pl...

Ingram Micro CINDE News Release - San Jose, Costa Rica. US based Ingram Micro Inc. officially opened its shared services center and its second facility in Costa Rica. It began operations with 135 employees but due to the increase in functions, languages and geographies forecast to serve, the company projects to double that number in the coming months. The inauguration took place last Thurs...

Panama Canal Panama City, Feb 13 (EFE).- The Panama Canal Authority, or ACP, said a successful test was conducted on a section of the new third set of locks where cracks were discovered last year. The test by the GUPC consortium responsible for the new locks, led by Spanish construction group Sacyr Vallehermoso, consisted of gradually raising the water behind Gate No. 6 of the Cocoli locks ...

(Courtesy) National brewer, Cervecería Costa Rica is introducing a new version of the country’s favorite cerveza, Imperial, which contains 0.0 percent alcohol. The new beverage, called Imperial Cero , is aimed at consumers who like to enjoy a beer but cannot always consume alcohol, the company said. “It’s a bet by on innovation and technology. We have made a significant financial invest...

Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, February 9, 2016. REUTERS/Staff/Remote By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock indexes worldwide tumbled on Thursday on fears over the health of the global economy, with banking shares slumping on both sides of the Atlantic, while safe-haven 10-year Treasury yield...

NTT Data Plano, TX – February 11, 2016 – NTT DATA, Inc., a leading IT services provider, announced today that it has opened a new service delivery center located in San Jose Costa Rica, to support its growing business in North America. The addition of the Costa Rica center strengthens the company’s ability to respond quickly and efficiently to client needs with accelerated solutions that lever...

Customers in a branch of Banco de Costa Rica New York, February 09, 2016 -- Moody's Investors Service has today changed the outlook on the long-term local currency deposit and foreign currency deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings of Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR) and Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) to negative from stable. At the same time, Moody's affirmed the banks' long and short-term l...

Source: Banco Central New York, February 08, 2016 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) has today changed the outlook on the Government of Costa Rica's Ba1 issuer rating to negative from stable. At the same time, Moody's has affirmed Costa Rica's Ba1 senior unsecured and issuer ratings. The decision to change the outlook reflects Moody's expectation that the lack of political consensus to ...

Source: CINDE CINDE Press Release - The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) will be participating at this year's MD&M West event in Anaheim, California. Learn more and identify key investment opportunities in Costa Rica to gain competitive advantages for your business. When: Feb. 9 - 11 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Where: Booth 1647- Hall D....

Source: Wikimedia Commons SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mobile operators today announced a series of new initiatives as part of the WeCare Costa Rica campaign run by the GSMA to provide a safer and more reliable environment for all mobile users. Operators Claro, ICE and Telefónica will work together to fight mobile phone theft as well as facilitate greater accessibility for consumers ...

The growth of medical and dental tourism in modern society is worthy of socioeconomic research, which is precisely what investigative journalist Sasha Issenberg has accomplished in a new book. When it comes to dental tourism, Costa Rica is the darling of the Americas. In Europe, Costa Rica's counterpart nation is the Republic of Hungary, where dental tourists from across Western Europe flock to...

TORONTO, ON and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - February 01, 2016) - Scotiabank announced today that it has acquired Citigroup's consumer and commercial banking operations in Costa Rica and Panama. The signing of these acquisitions was announced in July 2015 and the transactions are valued at approximately USD$360 million. "These acquisitions align with our strategy to deepen relationships and inc...

Source: Pixabay Commons NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has affirmed Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad y Subsidiarias' (Grupo ICE) foreign- and local-currency Issuer Default Ratings (FC/LC IDRs) at 'BB+' and its National Scale ratings at 'AAA(cri)'. The Rating Outlook remains Negative. A complete list of rating actions follows at the end of this release. Grupo ICE's ratings a...

Founder and Senior Partner Marcela Gurdian Earlier this year, the pretty Caribbean nation of St. Lucia in the Windward Isles officially started accepting applications for its “citizenship by investment” program. Located to the south of Martinique and more than 2,500 kilometers from Costa Rica, St. Lucia is part of the Commonwealth of Nations, and is now the latest country to offer economic cit...