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...

"NCI Building Systems, one of North America’s largest integrated manufacturers of metal products for the nonresidential building industry, inaugurated its new facilities in Costa Rica today. The Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez, the Head of Investment Promotion, Pilar Madrigal, NCI’s executives and special invitees participated in the event", informed the Costa Rican Investment Promotion A...

The Government of Costa Rica presented a formal request that “urges” Uber and all other similar technological platforms that enable public transportation service in the country to “abandon its operation in the country until a revision or modernization of the existing legal frame that regulates the remunerated transportation of people is completed”. This was the response of the government to the...

The Government of Costa Rica announced a plan geared towards promotion an economic reactivation. Part of this plan includes simplifying processes eliminating the excess of procedures that many times are an obstacle for the private sector. “We are presenting these actions, many of them we are already executing, that will allow us to be more competitive, thinking of a development that reaches ...

Starting today, September 1st, all taxpayers, individuals and corporations, with ID ending on 1,2 or 3 must implement the electronic invoices. Treasury in Costa Rica began the process in January this year with the obligation for all members of the health service and continued with the inclusion of professionals in different areas; these next three months will conclude the process, making it an ...

In a recent interview with news daily of El Salvador EL Economista, Marco Quinteros, general manager of Marriott Fairfield in El Salvador confirmed that the hotel chain plans to continue its expansion in Central America with Costa Rica as one of the main markets. According to Quinteros Marriott plants to bring the Fairfield Inn brand to Costa Rica’s metropolitan area in the short term, a simil...

HP Enterprise Costa Rica inaugurated its new offices in the America Free Zone, seven floors were remodeled after an investment of close to $11 million USD. Hewlett Packard announced also the opening of 120 new positions in the areas of Supply Chain and Research and Development (R&D); the company is looking for IT engineers, industrial and electric engineers and experts in computer sciences. Engl...

The Costa Rica-North American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and the Chamber of Industries (CICR) analyzed the government’s proposals during the political campaign in areas that have a direct impact in the productive sector and published today their “Compliance Observatory”. The study monitors the compliance of the proposals presented during the political campaign and the institutional work expre...

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...

Sylvania, opened the doors of Sylvania LAB, a 350m2 high-tech space that represents an investment of US $ 1 million, created for products’ development of high specification for different industries. "Sylvania LAB will support the Research and Development department, where Costa Rican engineers design luminaires that are exported to South America, Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico; as we...

The global company Jonson Controls will be holding a job fair this August 10 and 11 (Friday and Satuday) at their offices in Costa Rica, in the building H of Forum I first floor from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The company is looking to fill in 50 positions for its Circuito Sales Support Center in the country, and will be hiring technicians and electric engineers, mechanics, electro-mechanics, and CAD/ BI...

Early this July Costa Rica and El Salvador officially announce that both countries had everything ready for the Central American Ferry to begin its operations, establishing an urgent needed alternative route for exports and imports between the ports of La Union in El Salvador and Caldera in Costa Rica. The option of the Central American Ferry came as a solution for the commerce in the region s...

Costa Rica will host the fourth edition of the Life Sciences Forum 2018, the event will take place October 15 and 16 in the recently inaugurated Costa Rica Convention Center. This edition’s theme is “Converging technologies lead the future of MedTech” and it will address topics such as: How does artificial intelligence, automation, big data or cyber security affect the medical devices and li...

During this year’s first semester, the exports of the medical devices industry increased its presence in Japan, Netherlands and the United States. This behavior is shown on recent results published by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (PROCOMER). The medical devices exports to Japan increased 82%, followed by Netherlands with 53% and the United States with 4%. The total exports of ...

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 ...

After 50 years of having settled in Costa Rica, the Coca-Cola Company celebrated, with a ground-breaking ceremony, the beginning of the construction of a new and modern plant in Liberia, Guanacaste. The new operation represents an initial investment of US $50 million. The concentrate of Coca-Cola and 89 drinks that are exported to Central America, the Caribbean, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and Argent...

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...

Align Technology, Inc., announced today the grand opening of its newest facilities in Costa Rica at an event attended by Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica, as well as local government officials. “Align Technology’s expansion of its operations demonstrates the quality of the Costa Rican talent and its ability to attract investment from leading companies.” said the President of Co...

Walmart Mexico and Central America agreed to acquire the supermarkets of Gessa Corportate Group in Costa Rica, which include, Perimercardos, Super Compro and Saretto. Walmart presented the request for authorization of the purchase to the Commission for the Promotion of the Competition (COPROCOM) and the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC). COPROCOM has 30 days to decide, altho...

The Costa Rican company Establishment Labs Holdings began trading their common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the trading symbol “ESTA” following its initial public offering. Establishment Labs is a global medical technology company that focuses on breast esthetics and reconstruction technologies, it was founded in 2004 by Juan José Chacón Quirós and currently it exports to 60 countrie...

Costa Rica continues to position itself as one of the most important destinations for the establishment of Shared Services for foreign and local companies. With the implementation of Robotics Process Automation (RPA) a form of business process automation technology the country takes close to 40% of the Latin American market competing with Brazil, regional leader in this technology, Mexico, Colo...

Costa Rica and El Salvador officially announced that both countries already have the necessary conditions for the beginning of the operations of the Central American Ferry, establishing a route for exports and imports between the ports of La Union in El Salvador and Caldera in Costa Rica. The initiative would connect the maritime commercial flow between the two nations, with the purpose of cons...

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...

Photo Credit: US Embassy Costa Rica Thirty years ago in the area of Turrialba in Costa Rica, Rawlings Costa Rica opened doors after an agreement with the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) and started out with only 15 employees, however, it quickly became one of the main employment options in the area and continues to be today the source of income of many Costa Rican families. ...

The 61,595 Costa Ricans that work in the corporate services sector, which are attracted by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), added a total of US$3.125 million in exports, last year. This represents 72% of the knowledge-intensive services exports generated by the country. This group is comprised of corporate services and the information technology sectors (ICTs). It represents...

Florida Ice & Farm (FIFCO) opened its new Imperial Bar at the Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste; this is the third of its kind in the country, but the first one operated as a franchise. The Imperial Bars are part the FIFCO Hospitality division which operates Reserva Conchal, where the first Imperial Bar opened; the second one is located at the Juan Santamaria Airport. “The Hosp...

For many years, the relations between consumer and merchants in Costa Rica were fundamentally by both the Code of Commerce and the Civil Code by applying generic commercial trade rules. It was that way until 1996 when Constitutional Status was granted to the protection of consumers' rights by introducing an amendment to article 46 of the Constitution, which basically says "All consumers have the r...

The famous lingerie store Victoria’s Secret is remodeling and expanding its store in Costa Rica to offer their complete line of products and lingerie in the country. Victoria’s Secret opened doors in Costa Rica back in 2011, focusing mainly on fragrances, body lotions, accessories and make up; now, 7 years later the brand is ready to offer their complete line of lingerie with famous lines such ...

Vice-President Epsy Campbell, the Minister of Public Works and Transport Rodolfo Mendez Mata, the Minister of Foreign Commerce Dyala Jimenez and the Minister of Coordination and Link with the private sector Andre Garnier, met with close to 20 representatives of different corporations to coordinate efforts to mitigate the direct impact that the Crisis in Nicaragua is having over ground transportati...

Eurofins Scientific, a global leader in bio-analysis, inaugurated its new offices in Costa Rica and foresees hiring up to 50 Costa Ricans with knowledge in Information Technology, professionals related to IT infrastructure, Data Center and IT operations, as well to application development, architecture, design, and support. Eurofins invested US$250,000 on this new service site in Costa Rica. ...

The Chamber of Commerce in Costa Rica has expressed its concern as the situation affecting Nicaragua continues to affect the transportation of merchandise through this nation’s territory, affecting both imports and exports. Due to this, companies have been obligated to use other means of transportation such as maritime and aerial which have resulted in an increase in the logistics costs of as much...

Blackbaud, Inc. is a world leading cloud software company that has had a rapid growth over the past few years and is now serving customers in over 50 countries. Blackbaud recently announced it has selected Costa Rica to open its first office in Latin America. “As the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, we’re committed to providing the very best experience for our custo...

Swarovski, leading manufacturer of precision cut crystal and a world-renowned brand that adds sparkle to everything from jewelry, watches, fashion accessories to couture fashion and state-of-the-art lighting technology, officially inaugurated its business services center in San José, Costa Rica. The new location will host the company’s Global Business Services (GBS) center in the Americas which wi...

The Cisco Digital Readiness Index measured the digital preparation of 118 countries, 19 of which are from Latin America, with the purpose of learning where each country stands and the effects this generates in their competitiveness, generation of employment, attraction of investments and promotion of innovation. According to this Index, the country in Latin America best ranked in digital readin...

The financial services firm, Encore Capital Group, will become the first multinational company to open its operations very close to what will be San Jose’s Technological City, as part of the Special Zone for Economic Growth, promoted by San Jose’s Municipality. It will relocate its operations to Yaohan’s old building, by next November. Encore is part of the Municipality’s initiative to promote ...

On October 15th and 16th, Costa Rica will gather high-level exhibitors from the life sciences industry, as well as decision makers from the companies that are global leaders in the sector, key suppliers, consulting firms, and others, in the fourth edition of the Life Sciences Forum Costa Rica 2018, organized by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE). The recently inaugurated Costa ...

The Danish company, Coloplast, which belongs to the ostomy and continence Life Sciences sector, chose Cartago, Costa Rica as the location where it will construct a manufacturing plant for medical devices, the first one of its kind in the American continent. Coloplast will begin its operations in a temporary plant located in the La Lima Free Zone, where the first group of 100 Costa Ricans will b...

Salt takes a whole new meaning for Salt Traders Costa Rica, a small company located in Santa Ana and which started out as an entrepreneurship in the University of Costa Rica by Russell Davis and Adrian Arroyo. “For some time now my fascination for salt and cooking was growing, and I presented my class with the idea of creating the first Costa Rican brand specialized in sea salt”, explained Arro...

Several companies in Costa Rica appear in the “Great Place to Work in Central America 2018”ranking. This is a ranking created  by the Great Place to Work Institute Central America and the Caribbean, an institute of investigation, research, training and assessment that recognizes the efforts of organizations working under their own model of culture and organizational climate. The list obtained i...

Britt launched a new line of coffees: Hábitat. The new blends are inspired in Costa Rican wildlife and go hand in hand with the commitment of the company on matters of environmental sustainability, including the protection of native species in the region. “These blends will support conservation efforts throughout the country, with focuses on specific native species. Our first blend is dedicated...