Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly approved a reform this week that gives commercial operators inside the Depósito Libre Comercial de Golfito something they have sought for years: stability.
The legislation, passed in second debate on June 5, allows existing concession holders with active commercial spaces inside the zone to negotiate direct extensions of up to 10 years with JUDESUR, the regional development authority that administers the facility. Those operators will not be required to enter a new public competitive bidding process when their current contracts expire.
For businesses that have built their operations around this corner of Costa Rica’s southern zone, the measure offers a lifeline with consequences that extend well beyond the shopping center itself.
To understand why the reform matters, it helps to understand what the Depósito Libre is, how it came to exist, and what it means to the communities around it.
The story begins in the 1980s with a crisis. The United Fruit Company, which had operated banana plantations across Costa Rica’s southern Pacific zone for decades, withdrew from the region, leaving thousands of workers without employment. Five areas, Golfito, Osa, Buenos Aires, Corredores, and Coto Brus, lost their main economic engine.
The collapse was swift, and the consequences were severe. The government faced the challenge of replacing an industry that had shaped the economic identity of an entire region for a generation.
The solution was unconventional. In 1990, the Depósito Libre Comercial de Golfito was established as a tax-free shopping zone designed to attract Costa Rican consumers from across the country to the southern zone. There, shoppers could purchase imported goods without paying the value-added tax that applies elsewhere in the country.
The goal was to generate economic activity, employment, and infrastructure investment in a region that had been left economically stranded. JUDESUR, the Junta de Desarrollo Regional de la Zona Sur, was created to administer the zone and channel the revenue it generated back into regional development projects.
The model works through a controlled system. Any Costa Rican national or legal resident over the age of 18 can register at the customs post in Golfito to receive a shopping authorization card.
The authorized spending limit per person is currently 1,848,800 colones, equivalent to four base salaries, and family members can combine their allowances. Shoppers enter the zone and buy electronics, appliances, clothing, liquor, and other imported goods at prices below those found in much of the rest of the country because the value-added tax does not apply.
Purchases must remain within the authorized limit. Goods leaving the zone must be transported by authorized carriers operating within the facility. The customs framework is strictly enforced, and violations can carry significant penalties, including fines and potential criminal charges under the General Customs Law.
The zone currently generates more than 500 direct jobs across commercial spaces, the customs post, and JUDESUR administration. It also supports thousands of indirect jobs in transport, hospitality, food service, and the broader regional supply chain. For a region that lost its dominant industry four decades ago and has never fully replaced it, those jobs carry weight beyond the number itself.
The legislation approved this week addresses a structural problem that had created uncertainty for established operators. Under the previous framework, all concessions, including those held by businesses that had operated successfully for years, faced mandatory competitive rebidding when they expired.
That process created investment uncertainty, discouraged long-term capital commitments inside the zone, and generated instability for businesses tied to the southern zone’s local economy. The reform allows existing active operators to negotiate extensions directly with JUDESUR. Before granting any extension, JUDESUR must conduct updated valuations to determine appropriate concession fees.
New or vacant spaces, as well as spaces damaged by previous fires at the facility, will still go through public bidding to maintain competition and transparency. The reform comes as communities around Golfito continue to face levels of abandonment and underdevelopment that contrast sharply with more connected parts of the country.
The Depósito Libre is not simply a shopping zone. For many residents of the southern Pacific, it is the main economic institution around which daily commercial and employment life is organized. Giving its operators a stable platform to plan and invest gives the region a better chance to protect jobs, attract customers, and keep one of southern Costa Rica’s most important economic engines alive.
