The country’s Tourism and Foreign Trade ministers have packed their bags and headed to Europe, a region with budding trade and tourism opportunities for Costa Rica.
Stopping in at Spain last week on a European tour, Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz met with business leaders in the service, hotel, electronics and medical equipment sectors in an attempt to attract more foreign direct investment to Costa Rica, the Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX) said in a statement.
Traveling with Edna Camacho, manager of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), and Mario Méndez, European vice-president for Chiquita, Ruiz met with the Superior Council of the Chamber of Commerce in the Spanish capital Madrid. Costa Rica has a $150 million trade relationship with Spain.
This week, Ruiz went to a forum on international investment held by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Turkey. It is the first time a Costa Rican Trade Minister has been invited to the event.
Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides promoted the country at the International Tourism Fair in London, “the most important tourism fair in Europe,” according to Tourism Institute spokeswoman Marcela Villalobos.
On his way to London, Benavides stopped in at Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, where he attended a Florida Caribbean Cruise Association conference in an attempt to promote Costa Rica as a destination for cruise ships.
Central America and the European Union agreed in May to begin conversations for an association agreement based upon three fundamental pillars: cooperation, political dialogue and a free-trade agreement.
