Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce elects new board

Members of the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce on March 14 elected a new board of directors to serve from 2013-2014. Department store owner and longtime businessman Francisco Llobet was elected president.

Llobet has been a member of the chamber for six years and served as vice president for three years. He also has served on the board of the Foreign Trade Promotion Office.

Founded 98 years ago, the chamber is a private, nonprofit association whose members come from various business sectors in the country. It has more than 1,000 members.

“We’re going to work very hard toward uniting the business sector, holding periodic meetings with associates to listen to their problems and opinions,” Llobet told The Tico Times.

Another priority in the next year will be strengthening Costa Rica’s business sector through training programs in technology, he said.

With 2014 presidential elections around the corner, Llobet said the chamber would meet with political candidates to learn their positions on promoting business and trade to help boost Costa Rica’s economy.

The chamber is a strong backer of free trade agreements, and will lobby for a new agreement with the European Union, which is currently under discussion.

“With all free trade agreements, trade is the big winner, and taxes and prices decrease, allowing us to buy and sell at lower prices,” Llobet said.

To learn more about the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce, see: www.camara-comercio.com.