From September 23rd to the 25th, Costa Rica’s National Ecotourism and Sustainable Chamber (Spanish acronym: CANAECO) hosted the International Conference: Planet, People, Peace (P3) at the Children’s Museum in San Jose. P3 was sponsored by Costa Rica Tourism Board (Spanish initials: ICT), and it focused on addressing issues including social development through tourism, climate change adaptation, wa...

Source: Supreme Auctions GUANACASTE, Costa Rica, Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 14th, 2015, four contemporary eco-luxury villas located on the Nicoya Peninsula in Guanacaste Province will be sold at a single luxury no reserve absolute auction, offered by Supreme Auctions in cooperation with Chris Suarez of Keller Williams Realty International, Costa Rica. Each Nirvana Sanctuary ho...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Solid capital positions, high dollarization, stable customer deposits, good liquidity and sustainable asset quality underpin the largest private banks in Costa Rica, according to Fitch Ratings. With the addition of strong parental support, BAC, Scotiabank and Davivienda's national ratings are well anchored. 'Despite the prospects of a less dynamic eco...

Source: Acciona ACCIONA Press Release - ACCIONA Agua, together with the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewer Systems (AyA), has inaugurated the ‘Los Tajos’ wastewater treatment plant, which will alleviate the pollution load of the rivers María Aguilar, Tiribí and Torres. The installation will be the biggest in the country and is ACCIONA Agua’s first project in Costa Rica. The projec...

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Latin America's leading private banks and family offices will meet in Miami next month for the third edition of The Private Wealth Latin America and The Caribbean Forum. Taking place on October 20th and 21st, the forum has become the leading platform for connecting with high-level wealth management professionals and discussing opportunities present within t...

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA--(Marketwired - Sep 23, 2015) - Bosch Service Solutions, a leading supplier of Business Process Outsourcing, expands its global network with the opening of its first business service center in Costa Rica on September 23th. The site will provide business support in finance, accounting and technical operations for the Bosch Group in North America as well as technical support for...

New York, September 18, 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") assigned a provisional rating of (P) Ba2 to Aeris Holdings Costa Rica S.A. de C.V.'s issuance of approximately US $127 million of senior notes ("Notes"). Proceeds will be used to refinance the outstanding loans consisting of roughly $89 million obtained in 2011 from Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Inter-American Dev...

San Diego, California (PRWEB) September 15, 2015 -- Mexico Soft Landing company Co-Production International (CPI), is releasing a white paper, “Checklist: The Top 7 Criteria for Choosing a Medical Device Manufacturing Location”, at the American Medical Device Summit 2015 that will be held in Chicago on September 21-22, 2015. As Manufacturing Expansion Experts, CPI provides a range of site selec...

Pro Surfer Emily Gussoni from Costa Rica The National Surfing Team of Costa Rica made history earlier this year by bringing back the most gold medals from the World Surfing Games (WSG) in Nicaragua. Now the Surfing Federation of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: FEDESURF) has an opportunity to host the next WSG in 2016, but there is no money to do so. According to a recent news report filed by J...

New York, Sep 15 (EFE; additional reporting by The Costa Rica Star).- Hewlett Packard on Tuesday announced that it intends to lay off up to 30,000 workers to help cut costs by some $2.7 billion. The tech giant made the announcement in a communique issued from San Jose, California, which listed a series of measures to be taken to restructure the business group. The move was announced during a...

Wikimedia Commons QSRweb.com Press Release -- QSR International, developer of Quiznos, Smashburger and Teriyaki Experience franchises throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, announced the divestiture of 32 of its 33 KFC Costa Rican restaurants to Intelectiva Costa Rica SRL, led by Mexican businessman, Roberto González Alcalá. This divestiture will allow QSR International to focus on gro...

The Greenback The currency exchange rate between the United States dollar (USD) and the Costa Rica colón (CRC) in recent days has registered an uptick in favor of the greenback; however, some analysts believe that this is a trend that may not last too long. High trading volumes in the MONEX, a national trading platform that provides direct access to foreign currency exchange (forex) investo...

Market and industry research firm Canadean recently announced the availability of its latest report: Costa Rica Beer Market Insights 2015. SUMMARY The beer market saw growth in 2014 with low priced imports help fuel demand. The market remains a virtual monopoly but craft beer saw strong growth. Imports increased due to a key demographic favoring imported beer. Craft beer saw growth through c...

NEW YORK & SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has affirmed Banco BAC San Jose, S.A.'s (BAC San Jose) long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB-'. The Rating Outlook is Stable. A full list of rating actions follows at the end of this press release. KEY RATING DRIVERS BAC San Jose's IDRs and National Ratings reflect the support it would receive from its parent, B...

Source: Banco Central With a fiscal deficit approaching six percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Costa Rica is increasingly looking at tax reform as a viable option. At one point, the administration of President Luis Guillermo Solis hinted at the possibility of increasing enforcement, which many analysts believe is sorely lacking in Costa Rica; alas, such an option is taking a backseat to ...

Sea Bird Sailing Excursions, a renowned tour operator based in Costa Rica's Gold Coast, is currently offering its business assets for sale. This is an exciting business opportunity for anyone interested in profiting from the lucrative tourism industry in the province of Guanacaste. This well-established business is currently located in Playas del Coco, less than 30 minutes away from the Liberia...

NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Markets Group will host the 3rd Annual Private Wealth Latin America & The Caribbean Forum, the largest conference of the wealth management space. This event is a two day series of presentations, panels, roundtables and interviews on October 20th and 21st at the JW Marriott in Miami, Florida. Attendees will meet and hear from three different keynote ad...

Bayer SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA--(Marketwired - Aug 27, 2015) - The Bayer Group opened a plant for the production of a non-reversible permanent contraceptive device today, with an investment of US$12 million and an initial employment generation for up to 75 people. The plant, located in the Zona Franca Metropolitana in Barreal de Heredia covers about 1,400 square meters, dedicated to the assembl...

A well-funded online classifieds network has entered the crowded marketplace in Costa Rica with a special focus on real estate and jobs. According to a news report filed by Leo Siqueira for the Advanced Interactive Media Group, Navent has been operating in 10 Latin American nations, and it decided to enter Costa Rica last month. Navent owns the CompreoAlquile.com brand of online classifieds in ...

A corporate officer from Banco Popular, one of the major banks that enjoy fiscal support and backing from the government of Costa Rica, has been accused of defrauding an elderly expat with a convoluted scheme to slip away with about $200,000. The officer has been identified as a woman who goes by the last name of Barahona, and her father has also been implicated in this alleged swindle. Accordi...

Source: PPG By Carolina Ruiz Vega Glidden, a painting brand of PPG Industries, the world’s leading coatings company, and El Lagar stores signed a distribution agreement in Costa Rica. "Our brand of paints and coatings is joining with another market leader, El Lagar, for distribution in Costa Rica, with the aim of further strengthening our presence in the country," said Horacio ...

Source: Sprout New York, Aug 20 (EFE).- Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said Thursday it has agreed to acquire North Carolina-based Sprout Pharmaceuticals, maker of a pill that increases women's sexual desire, for $1 billion in cash and a share of future profits. The announcement comes two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, flibanse...

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Pure Hospitality Solutions, Inc., (OTC: PNOW) announced today, that the Company is making arrangements for its Central American-Caribbean online travel hub, Oveedia (an OTA), to be a prime exhibitor at "Expotur 2016", one of Central America's largest travel and industry conventions. Oveedia's exhibiting at Expotur 2016 will afford management the ability to ...

Source: Ad Astra Ad Astra Press Release -- Ad Astra Rocket Company and NASA have successfully completed contract negotiations on the company’s Next Space Technology Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) award, announced on March 31, 2015, and now enter the execution phase of the project. The parties executed the contract, a three-year, fixed price agreement, on August 7, 2015 for a total value o...

Wikimedia Commons New York, Aug 9 (EFE).- Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett, is near a deal to acquire Precision Castparts for $30 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. The acquisition of Precision Castparts, a maker of parts for aircraft, electric utilities and the energy industry, could be announced this week, the Journal said, citing peopl...

PANAMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX), together with Premium Restaurants of America (PRA), its long-term strategic licensing partner in Central America, today opened its first store in Panama, making it Starbucks 15th market in Latin America and 67th worldwide. Located in Panama City’s Street Mall shopping center, the new store proudly features Starbucks Reserve™ Pan...

Source: LATAM Sao Paulo, Aug 6 (EFE).- LATAM Airlines Group, which was born from the 2012 merger of Chile's LAN and Brazil's TAM, said here Thursday that it will unify all of the conglomerate's brands under the name LATAM. Despite current political and economic challenges in Brazil, the region's biggest market, the group is looking to embark on "new paths and therefore uniting the brands is...

Flickr Commons The most iconic brand of sporting equipment in Major League Baseball (MLB) will trim down its operations in Costa Rica. Rawlings, the official provider of baseballs to the MLB since the late 1970s, has announced that it will shut down its uniform manufacturing operations in Costa Rica and will move them to El Salvador, where cheaper labor and lower overhead expenses await. Ac...

KANNAPOLIS, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--There are college students in Costa Rica balancing long hours in the laboratory with high-level science classes who are wondering where their education will take them. For at least two students, the answer is North Carolina. Dole Food Company is sponsoring banana and pineapple PhD programs in partnership with NC State University (NCSU), the NC Research Campus ...

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+' as well as 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 are supported by its l...

SBWIRE Press Release -- A new market report from ResearchMoz.us indicates that the insurance sector of Costa Rica is poised for sheer growth and expansion over the next few years. "The Insurance Industry in Costa Rica - Key Trends and Opportunities to 2019: Global Industry Size, Shares, Growth, Analysis, Trends And Forecast" is the name of the report, which includes the following highlights: T...

GoCode, a programming academy in Costa Rica Austin, Texas (PRWEB) July 27, 2015 -- techXscapes launched its Indiegogo campaign for funding its destination bungalow-workspace pilot location in Costa Rica on July 20, 2015. Its funding goal is $75,000. Focused on technology professionals, the Bungalow-workspace concept combines co-working and co-living space ideas into a unified experience, si...

Alleged Greenwashing by Infinito Gold The controversial Canadian mining firm that fought against Costa Rica for nearly a decade over the Crucitas open-pit project has formally suspended its arbitration case presided by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which serves the World Bank. According to a news report filed by Manuel Sancho of online news daily CRHoy.com,...

SEATTLE & PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) today announced they have entered into an agreement for the marketing, sale and distribution of Starbucks® ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee and energy beverages including Starbucks® Frappuccino® chilled coffee drinks, Starbucks Double Shot® Espresso and Cream, and Starbucks Refreshers® beverages in Lat...

The Insolvency Service The Insolvency Service Press Release – First Choice Properties MGT Ltd, a London property investment company has been ordered into liquidation in the public interest following an investigation by the Insolvency Service. The investigation found that the company had cold called unsuspecting members of the public promoting the purchase of plots of land in Brazil, Cyprus,...

ALBANY, New York, July 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – High cost of medical treatment in developed countries has fueled the development of medical tourism, causing patients to visit other destinations for cheaper yet sophisticated treatment. Transparency Market Research, in a recent report, studies the emergence and growth of the global medical tourism industry. The report is titled "Medical Tourism Marke...

Andrew Stark (left), owner of The Costa Rica Star meets U.S. Ambassador Haney Titusville, Florida. July 12, 2015. The Minority Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the U.S Ambassador in Costa Rica, Hon. S. Fitzgerald Haney, has accepted our invitation to attend as Keynote speaker during the Costa Rica –Minority U.S. Business Trade Mission to be held next August 19-24 in San Jose, Costa R...

Wikimedia Commons Washington D.C., July 14, 2015 (SEC Press Release) — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged 15 individuals and 19 entities for their roles in alleged schemes to manipulate the trading of microcap stocks. The 34 defendants include six firms alleged to have acted as unregistered broker-dealers catering to customers who sought to conceal their stock ownership and m...

TORONTO, ON and NEW YORK, NY -- Scotiabank announced today that an agreement has been reached to acquire Citigroup's retail and commercial banking businesses in Panama and Costa Rica, subject to regulatory approval. Scotiabank's common equity tier one capital ratio will be impacted by approximately 15 basis points. This acquisition is in line with Scotiabank's strategy to increase scale within ...

Wikimedia Commons Panama, 03-JULY-2013 (WireService.co)– 2Bet Bob is pleased to announce that their headquarters have been moved to the country of Panama, due to unexpected red tape in Costa Rica. This move will not affect the excellent customer service which is a feature of the betting site. The pay per head feature allows the company to provide 24-hour betting every day. 2Bet Bob uses the PP...