Business in Costa Rica, San José

The objectives of the subject “Foreign Trade and Business in Costa Rica” are the following:

1. To analyse the Costa Rican Economy and Foreign Trade (Import, Export, FDI)
2. To know the business opportunities in Costa Rica
3. To explore the Costa Rican trade relations with the country of the student
4. To know the Costa Rican Free Trade Agreements
5. To examine the profile of Costa Rican Companies
6. To develop a business plan for the Costa Rican Market

Costa Rican Free Trade Agreements

1. Costa Rica and the Latin American Economic Area
2. Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
3. Central American Integration System (SICA)
   1. Central American Common Market - Integrated with the SICA -
4. Mesoamerica Project
5. Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA)
6. Costa Rica has Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with Panama, Colombia, Chile, European Union, European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
7. Mexico-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
8. Caribbean Community-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
9. United Kingdom-Central America Free Trade and Economic Integration Agreement
10. Costa Rica-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
11. Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR)
12. Dominican Republic-Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua) Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
13. China-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
14. Mexico-Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua) Free Trade Agreement
15. Panama-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
16. South Korea-Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama) Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
17. Costa Rica-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
18. Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
19. Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) (observer)
20. Pacific Alliance (candidate country)

Trade Facilitation Programs

1. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
   1. WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
   2. WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
   3. WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
   4. WTO Agreement on Preshipment Inspection (PSI)
   5. WTO Agreement on Safeguards (SG)
   6. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
2. World Customs Organisation (WCO)
   1. Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC)

American Trade and Economic Organisations

1. Organisation of American States (OAS)
2. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
3. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
4. Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC)
5. Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
   1. European Union-CELAC Summit

Global Organisations

1. United Nations (UN)
   1. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
   2. International Trade Centre (INTRACEN)
   3. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
2. World Bank (WB)
3. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
4. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
5. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (Accession Candidate)

The Republic of Costa Rica.

1. Borders of Costa Rica: Nicaragua, Colombia, and Panama
2. Costa Rican population: 4.9 million people
3. Area of Costa Rica: 51,100 square kilometres
4. Capital of Costa Rica: San José
5. Official language: Spanish
6. Costa Rica is the most politically stable country in Latin America (World Bank)
7. The Republic of Costa Rica is one of the oldest American democracies
8. Costa Rica has no army
9. Costa Rica gained the independence from Spain in 1821
10. Abolition of Slavery in Costa Rica: 1824
11. African Diaspora in Costa Rica: 0.1 million people (3% of the Costa Rican population)

Religion in Costa Rica: Christianity (Catholicism: 3 million)

Costa Rica belongs to the Western Civilisation - Latin American Economic Area

Main cities in Costa Rica.

1. San Jose (Costa Rican capital) is the Latin American fourth-largest city with better quality of life (The Economist)
2. Heredia: Global Park Free zone, Sykes, IBM, Hospira, Boston Scientific, Baxter America Services
3. Alajuela ranks first in Costa Rica in coffee and sugar cane production
4. Puerto Limon is the largest port in Costa Rica

Costa Rican Economy.

1. Costa Rica (America) has positioned itself as a key destination for operations of multinational companies in a variety of industries: advanced manufacturing, medical devices, and services
2. 200 global companies have chosen Costa Rica as an establishment location
3. Costa Rica has a strong legal system that administers the Judicial Power, which guarantees the law accordance and covers nationals, as well as foreigners within Costa Rica
4. The World Bank Study for Global Governance Indicators ranks Costa Rica in the first place within Latin America for political stability
5. The real gross domestic product has been increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 5.3% since 1991
6. Costa Rica is one of the most competitive destinations in Latin America for service operations
7. Costa Rica is one of the most competitive locations, above the largest economies in Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Chile)
8. Total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have grown an average 22% every year since 2000.
9. Foreign direct investment per capita = 448 USD.
10. Gross domestic product per capita of Costa Rica is seven times higher than the People's Republic of China
11. Costa Rica has become an important location for companies from the United States, as well as a strategic offshore location for the European enterprises in the dollar zone, for the European-based companies
12. Services sector has been growing in the last decade, from one company in 1995, to ninety-five companies and 28,416 employees
13. Currency of Costa Rica: Costa Rica Colon

Companies in Costa Rica.

Intel in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is home to Intel's only production site in Latin America. The local factory is focused on the assembly and testing of microprocessors and chipsets, product development, and customer support. Intel Costa Rica is also an international distribution centre and a strong back-office organisational function supporting several business groups including Finance, Materials, Planning, information technology, and Employee Services. Intel is placed in Heredia (San José). The facilities in La Ribera occupy 126 acres and include one manufacturing factory and one distribution centre dedicated to the assembly, testing, and distribution in the World's fastest processors.

Since the mid-1990's Café Britt thought the International Airport in Costa Rica as a place where the traveller must find their products. Britt decided to expand internationally. The company decided to pursue international markets actively and invested in Peru, Curaçao, the Netherlands Antilles, Chile, Miami, St. Thomas, Antigua and Barbuda, and Mexico.

International Trade of Costa Rica.

1. Costa Rica is the fourth high-tech exporter in the World
2. One of the pillars of the Costa Rican economic development has been the international trade liberalisation, which has allowed exports to surpass its 30% ratio of the gross domestic product in 1980 to a 50% rate (includes product and service exports)
3. This foreign trade liberalisation has been followed by a series of structural modifications resulting in productivity growth, economy diversification and a higher level of investment
4. All these modifications have translated into important social achievements. In the last twenty years poverty was reduced from 40% to less than 20%.
5. Costa Rican Exports: 8.847 billion dollars
6. Main Costa Rican export products: integrated circuits, medical equipment, bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar, textiles, electronic components, and medical equipment
7. Largest export markets of Costa Rica: the United States 23.9%, the Netherlands 13.3%, China 12.9%, the United Kingdom 5%, and Mexico 4.9%.
8. Costa Rican Imports: 10.87 billion dollars
9. Top import products of Costa Rica are raw materials, consumer products, capital equipment, and petroleum
10. Largest Costa Rican international suppliers: the United States 42.7%, Mexico 6.9%, Venezuela 6.3%, Japan 5.4%, China 4.7%, and Brazil 4.2%.