Costa Rica and China signed a cooperation agreement on Monday in the context of the Silk Road Economic Belt, an initiative of Beijing that aims to encourage trade and investment.
Construction associated with the $495 million contract to expand Route 32 between San José and Limón is slated to begin during the second half of 2017.
The expansion from two to four lanes a 107-kilometer stretch of Route 32, the main road to the Caribbean region, is finally moving forward after the Comptroller General’s Office approved the project’s contract.
RECOPE President Sara Salazar told reporters that the Chinese-Costa Rican joint-venture cost the Costa Rican government ₡33 billion — more than $61 million — with nothing to show for the effort.
Exports to China grew by an annual average of 7.6 percent between 2004 to 2014. Last year exports reached a total of $338.3 million, according to Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Ministry.
