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...

Thule Group, the Swedish company market leader in cargo carriers for automobiles and leading company in the outdoor and bags market, chose Costa Rica to establish his first store in the region. The store opened doors in Multiplaza Escazu offering accessories for cars such as roof racks, baskets and bike racks as well as strollers, luggage, cargo carriers, bike trailers, child bike seats, backpa...

The market of domestic flights in Costa Rica had been for years dominated by Sansa Airlines, even when the operations of Nature Air where growing, Sansa always kept the leading position, statistics by Civil Aviation from 2016 showed that at that time, Nature Air was absorbing close to 30% of the market, while Sansa had almost 55% and the rest of the travelers used charter flights or smaller compan...

As The Costa Rica Star reported yesterday, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation suspended the operation permit of company Nature Air, indefinitely, and sustained their decision stating that the airline had not resumed its operations even though their previous suspension was lifted in February. Representatives of Nature Air held a press conference this Thursday at the Tobias Bolaños Airport...

Civil Aviation in Costa Rica decided to suspend indefinitely the operation permit of domestic airline Nature Air. The reason behind the suspension, according to the aviation authority, is due to the “abandonment of routes”, since the company has not resumed its operations even though the previous suspension has been lifted since February. “They have a certificate and an approval of routes, t...

U.S. company, Shoreline Entertainment, one of the longest-running and a highly-respected company in the film industry is joining Costa Rican production companies for the creation of projects in this country. The meetings between the companies were held during the Buyers Trade Mission (BTM) part of Costa Rica Services Summit event organized by PROCOMER (Costa Rica Foreign Trade Promotion Agency...

The 61,595 Costa Ricans that work in the corporate services sector, that 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 conformed by corporate services and the information technology sectors (ICTs). It represents ...

MicroVention, a wholly owned subsidiary of Terumo Corporation and a global neurovascular company announced its plans to grow its operation in Costa Rica, doubling its capacity of production and creating at least 1,100 new jobs in the country in 2019. The company, located in Zona Franca el Coyol since 2011 would go from their current 7,000 square meters (75,347 square feet) to 14,000 square met...

Through an executive decree signed by President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis, the government seeks to offer working mothers the minimum conditions to breastfeed or pump breast milk at work. The obligation will be applied both for private and public institutions that have in their payroll 30 or more women; the companies must also give the mother the time during the work day to use the room...

French company Vinci Airports signed an agreement to acquire the portfolio of Airports Worldwide, which includes co-control stakes of Costa Rica’s two major airports, 48.75% of the Juan Santamaria International Airport and 45% stake in the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. The agreement also included airports in the United States and Europe, “The operation boosts Vinci...

United Airlines opened a sales office in Costa Rica, more specifically in the Momentum Pinares complex in Pinares, Curridabat, San Jose. “This new sales office is just another of our efforts to offer our clients the best attention and experience when flying with United”, commented Carlos Granados, General Sales Manager for United Airlines in Costa Rica. With over 25 years operating in Costa...

The Costa Rica Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (Procomer) holds first place for fourth consecutive year  in the ranking of trade promotion agencies elaborated by the International Trade Center (ITC) agency of the World Commerce Organization (WCO) and the United Nations (UN). The comparative analysis evaluated 225 technical aspects among 63 trade promotion agencies in the world. Procomer earned a...

After more than a decade of wait, the National Congress and Convention Center (CNCC) opens doors today, April 5 under the management of a consortium formed by Colombian group Heroica and Costa Rican firm Volio and Trejos. Heroica group also handles the Cartagena Convention Center with positive figures. According to projections by the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) the Convention Center is exp...

Advant Medical a global leader in Medical Device contract services and manufacturing solutions, recently announced a significant investment for its expansion into Costa Rica. The Costa Rican expansion saw the opening of a 13,000 square foot facility with a 2,200 square foot, Class 8, cleanroom with capacity to manufacture Class I, II, III Medical Devices. Advant has also invested heavily in new...

NCI Building Systems, one of North America’s largest integrated manufacturers of metal products for the nonresidential building industry, announced today it plans to open a design center in Costa Rica to support its North American operations. NCI’s family of industry-leading brands works side-by-side to design, manufacture and deliver a comprehensive range of products for the non-residential const...

In 2012 a law #9024 named "Tax on Corporations" came into effect. It was an annual tax on all corporations registered at National Registry based on the Code of Commerce such as SA's and LLC's plus all of those branches of foreign corporations that obtained a corporate ID number for their Costa Rican divisions. Most foreigners living in Costa Rica were caught with one or more corporations used to e...

Powers of Attorney are a very important tool in Costa Rica and are used daily by individuals and corporations to take care of business, perform contracts and obtain various permits and authorizations from any public institution. However, Powers of Attorney can be also be a main cause of fraud. Some cases surrounding stealing by means of a Power of Attorney are hard to fight since judges tend to co...

The Coca Cola Company officially announced the establishment of one of its largest and most technologically advanced plants in the city of Liberia, Guanacaste. The new plan represents an initial investment of approximately $50 million and will be located across the Daniel Oduber International Airport in the Solarium Free Trade Zone; the plant of 34,000 square meters (365,973 square feet or 8.4 ...

This March 7, 2018 Starbucks Coffee Company opens the doors to its Visitor Center at Hacienda Alsacia, located on the company’s 600-acre (240 hectare) coffee farm on the slopes of the Poas volcano in Costa Rica. Hacienda Alsacia is a working farm that has served as a global research and development facility for Starbucks since 2013. Now open to the public, visitors will have the chance to experien...

At times when Costa Rica is in a difficult financial position with a 6.2% fiscal deficit at the end of 2017, Helio Fallas, Treasury Minister, stated that the fact that the headquarters of companies Uber and Airbnb are in other countries has made the exchange of information “difficult” and this has been a factor that hasn’t allowed the Costa Rican government to establish a mechanism to tax these ...

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...

Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm (FIFCO) celebrated in December last year the accomplishment of their goal to become the first mass consumption company in Costa Rica to be certified as carbon positive, now, the company celebrates another milestone as they become the first company in Latin America to receive the certification “Zero Waste to Landfill”. The certification, awarded by The Carb...

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...

As part of its growth strategy in Costa Rica, Citi announced that it hopes to continue generating more employment opportunities through the end of the year. The above was communicated, in the framework of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Shared Service Center, better known as: Citi Service Center (CSC) which operates in Costa Rica, La Ribera de Belén, where it provides services to o...

As consumers become increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of agro-commodity production, with the click of a button, companies buying pineapples from Costa Rica – one of the world's largest producers of the fruit – can now see if their suppliers are engaged in deforestation or not, with help from the United Nations' Green Commodities Programme. The Land Use Change Monitoring Syst...

The Canada Embassy to Costa Rica will host a business forum with the participation of representatives of different national companies with the purpose of analyzing and comparing the quality and price of products offered. According to information by the Foreign Commerce Chamber of Costa Rica in total, twelve Canadian companies from diverse product and service sectors, including Canadian Oats, Ch...

During a press conference today, Bayer announced the inauguration today of their new shared service center in Costa Rica, which will be providing 350 new jobs in the country. The shared service center will provide accounting, business support and finance services to all Latin-America. Erika Bernal, President of Bayer Central America and Caribbean, stated “We are celebrating 40 years of being...

The American company Microtechnologies –specializing in innovating and delivering critical components for global industries– inaugurated today its new production plant in the Terra Industrial Park, in Coyol of Alajuela, Costa Rica. The new facility of 15,000 square meters- marks the celebration of the company’s twentieth anniversary in the country and represents a milestone of innovation within...

Amazon Costa Rica announced today the inauguration of the new Seller Support Hub in El Tobogan Corporate Center in Barrio Tournón, San Jose, as the first step of a series of changes that would generate up to 1,500 new jobs this 2018. With an investment of close to U.S. $10 million, the Amazon Costa Rica team will offers support and attention to small and medium size companies that sell through ...

Costa Rica is known among other things as a great producer of bananas, it has been for many years one of the main economic activities of this country and one of the most important export products. During 2017 Costa Rica was able to generate over U.S. $1 billion through the export of bananas, increasing from U.S. $800 million in 2016. This industry also sustains over 100 thousand families. ...

Heraeus Medical Components, today held the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, underscoring its commitment to its global customers, innovation and growth in Costa Rica. Recognized as one of the world’s leading medical device suppliers, Heraeus designed the Cartago site to play a major manufacturing role in its Finished Devices business line, which includes cardiovascu...

The global consulting firm McKinsey & Company inaugurated a new state-of-the-art facility located in Lagunilla, Heredia, Costa Rica. The inauguration featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Firm’s Global Managing Partner Mr. Dominic Barton, the President of CINDE, Mr. Luis Gamboa and Mr. Alexander Mora, Minister of Foreign trade, along with local McKinsey colleagues. McKinsey started...

Last year (2017) was transcendental for the Life Sciences sector, in Costa Rica: it became the main product of goods exportations. Statistics from the Foreign Trade Promoter of Costa Rica (Procomer by its Spanish acronym) and the Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX by its acronym in Spanish) reveal that, for the first time in Costa Rica’s history, it surpassed the agricultural sector. In 2017, Lif...

The global medical device company, Smith & Nephew opened its GBS (Global Business Services) operation in Costa Rica today, to provide globally specialized shared services. This diversification of operations will allow the addition of 150 new collaborators in the next two years, with an investment of around 1.8 million dollars. The inauguration of the GBS was attended by the President of the ...

The Hospital Metropolitano (Metropolitan Hospital) in Costa Rica continues its growth and announced the opening of between 15-20 service centers in 2018; it also signed a collaborative agreement with Sanford Health. The Metropolitan Hospital was born in 2010, and Grupo Montecristo is the majority owner, currently it has more than 30 service centers between clinics, hospitals and corporate docto...

Roche, the world’s largest biotech company and leader in vitro diagnostics, today officially inaugurated its new IT Global Shared Service Center in Costa Rica. Roche has invested US$1.5 million in the Shared Service Center which will support both the Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics divisions of Roche, handling IT support calls from employees across the U.S. and Canada. The capital expenditure incl...

The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE by its Spanish acronym) and the Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX by its Spanish acronym) revealed that 2017 was a positive year for Costa Rica thanks to the 40 investment projects attracted and generated 13,754 new jobs. The new multinational companies and the already established and growing industries, in the sectors of life sciences, corporat...

The Costa Rica Star and Luxe Marketing Boutique is looking for an experienced social media manager to join our growing team. You will help us engage with our clients audiences on social media, identify our online community’s developing needs, and look for opportunities to grow our social reach and brand awareness. If you’re a social-savvy trendsetter whose morning routine wouldn’t be complete w...

Costa Rican Treasury (Ministerio de Hacienda) reminded individuals and corporations of the health sector that as of January 15, 2018 they will have the obligation of using electronic invoices. This is the first group that by law will have to start implementing this system; the second group is the accounting-financial and administrative sector that will have to use electronic invoices as of Fe...

It is just the first day of 2018 but you know what they say “death and taxes”. The Costa Rica Treasury Department (Ministerio de Hacienda) reminds all owners of Costa Rican corporations that the tax payment for these, are due this month. The payment can be done starting today and the last day is January 31st. The amount each corporation pays will depend on how it is classified in the National ...