Mexican and Costa Rican officials are meeting in Geneva to discuss Costa Rica's ongoing ban on avocados from Mexico and eight other countries because of the “sunblotch” virus. If Mexico is not satisfied with the criteria discussed at the WTO's Phytosanitary Committee, the dispute could move on to arbitration.
The Tico Times sat down with U.S. Ambassador Stafford Fitzgerald Haney at the U.S. Embassy in San José last week to hear his thoughts on U.S. foreign investment, foreign policy, Costa Rica’s leadership role in the region, and the possibility of medical marijuana legalization here.
The change only will apply at the operational level and will not have any impact on the company's staff in the country, currently at over 6,000 employees, HP reported.
Exports of all goods from the country dropped from $2.8 billion in the first quarter of 2014 to $2.3 billion this year, according to the latest report. The exit of technology giant Intel still is the main factor negatively affecting export figures.
Medical devices now lead national exports and showed a considerable 49.5 percent growth in the first two months of 2015 compared to the same time period last year.
Paving the way for a possible visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to Costa Rica later this year, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel González met last Thursday with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry, for the first time since the May 2014 inauguration of President Luis Guillermo Solís.
During a ceremony to inaugurate Costa Rica's 2015 school year, Solís said the first leg of his tour will include a stop in Paris on March 16, where he will promote Costa Rica’s candidacy for a full member spot in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Exports of Costa Rican beef to China increased by more than 700 percent in one year, according Leonardo Murillo, a livestock research coordinator at the Costa Rican Cattle Corporation.
Costa Rica's exports of goods last year totaled $11.2 billion, representing a 2.4 percent decrease compared to the $11.5 billion registered in 2013, the Foreign Trade Promotion Office reported.
