Costa Rica exceeded its annual goal for foreign investment by an estimated $300 million in 2014, but new investments weren’t enough to outpace the loss of jobs from companies like Intel and Bank of America that exited the country this year.
The meeting included top potential investors in advanced manufacturing, the food industry, corporate services and life sciences who were presented with investment projects in areas outside of Costa Rica’s Central Valley.
President Luis Guillermo Solís said that Costa Rica would present its application to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in June 2015, during remarks following a meeting with the organization’s president in Mexico on Sunday.
Casa Presidencial and the Foreign Trade Ministry announced Thursday that the government is in discussions with the South Korean company Wells Communications, Inc. to develop a national LED public lighting system that would also provide free wireless Internet.
A group of small and medium Chilean companies, mostly providers of health and cosmetics products and services, this week are visiting the country to seek business opportunities.
According to Costa Rica's former trade minister, Alberto Trejos, Cuba, whose halting reforms have failed to energize the island’s stagnant, centralized economy, may have a thing or two to learn from Costa Rica – which over the last 30 years has made strides in slashing poverty, promoting trade and luring foreign direct investment.
Owners of the Europa Hotel & Casino and Hotel Radisson’s Casino, located in San José, announced they would close the businesses and lay off 250 staff members due to high operating costs, the group's attorney, Hugo Navas, said.
The U.S.-based company Motif last Friday announced the closure of its customer support call center in Heredia, north of the Costa Rican capital. The news was confirmed in a press release signed by local manager Kaushal Mehta, stating, “[The closure] was due to a change in the customer base served by Motif from its Costa Rica facilities.”
Municipal officials in the Alajuela canton of Orotina have asked the U.S-based Georgia Tech Foundation to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether conditions exist for the central Pacific community to begin hosting large foreign companies looking to relocate to Costa Rica.
Company recruiters are looking for workers in sales, customer service, marketing and engineering applications, including the areas of mechatronics, electronics and electrical and systems engineering.
