The Economist Intelligence Unit recently released a new Country Report for Costa Rica. This new report, which is available in electronic format through Research and Markets, covers economic activity for the months of January and February 2015. As expected, the highlight of the report is the ongoing inflation, which has been increasing at a very fast clip during the administration of President Luis...

Source: UK Trade & Investment Two major projects from the Ad Astra Rocket Company, the celebrated aerospace firm from Costa Rica that founded by NASA Hall of Fame Astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz, have recently run into roadblocks. First of, there's the breakup between Ad Astra and RECOPE, Costa Rica's state-owned fuel refinery monopoly, over future development of hydrogen production in our c...

U.S. tech giant Apple will replace telecom titan AT&T in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the company that compiles that stock market index said Friday. EFE/File New York, Mar 6 (EFE).- U.S. tech giant Apple will replace telecom titan AT&T in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the company that compiles that stock market index said Friday.   Apple's inclusion in the select cl...

Screenshot of INS webpage MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a-” of Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) (San Jose, Costa Rica). The outlook for both ratings is stable.   The ratings reflect INS’ favorable operating performance in conjunction with strong capitalization, sound reinsuranc...

A Cuban Farmer. Source: Flickr Havana, Mar 2 (EFE).- Almost 100 U.S. agri-businessmen visiting Cuba on Monday supported an end to the embargo on the island and said they were ready to push the productive sector there, one of the economy's most acute needs given that Cuba spends $2 billion per year to import food. The businessmen are representatives of the U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cub...

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA--(Marketwired - February 26, 2015) - The entire Advisory Committee of the TIES program of the International Tourism Collective (ITC) has resigned from the ITC and is calling for global participation from members within the international ecotourism and sustainable tourism community to join in a transition to a new, positive, transparent and accountable global association to sup...

China extended loans worth $22.1 billion to Latin America in 2014, topping the $20 billion lent by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank combined. EFE/File Washington, Feb 27 (EFE).- China extended loans worth $22.1 billion to Latin America in 2014, topping the $20 billion lent by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank combined, according to a report from a Was...

Source; EFE file photo By Emilio J. Lopez for EFE with additional reporting by The Costa Rica Star Miami, Feb 2015 (EFE).- Miami wants to augment its cultural offerings, leisure activities, sun and beaches by making itself - over the next few years - into an alternative technology zone to Silicon Valley, a plan that Miami Dade College is convinced can be achieved. Over the past five year...

Alleged Greenwashing by Infinito Gold A mining company with a controversial track record in Costa Rica recently announced its acceptance of a loan from a major shareholder, and this temporary provision of funds is expected to float this embattled Canadian firm as it pursues a claim against Costa Rica. Readers of The Costa Rica Star are likely familiar with the saga of Infinito Gold in our c...

The city of Liberia in the province of Guanacaste may soon be home to the first Industrial Park of Science and Technology in Central America. According to a news report recently filed by Fiorella Valle of Guanacaste online news daily Primero en Noticias, the intention to build this park was announced during a business and development forum that took place in the campus of EARTH University in Liber...

Source: Green Lava The burgeoning sector of video game development in Costa Rica is picking up speed and attracting international attention. Thanks to an initiative by PROCOMER, which is a government agency in charge of marketing trade and exports, six video game development firms from Costa Rica will exhibit their work and expertise at one of the most important business expos in this field. T...

The Greenback If the way you make a living in Costa Rica consists of getting paid in United States dollars (USD), there a couple of things you should know about what your financial future might hold now that the greenback is no longer tied to currency exchange bands. As recently reported by The Costa Rica Star, the Central Bank decided to get rid of the currency exchange bands, which had a min...

Super Mora During 2014, grocery retailers in Costa Rica continued to focus on offering attractive value relations to consumers, which were mainly represented by discounts and offers in the case of supermarkets (even in the case of the high- end players), hypermarkets and discounters, while convenience stores remained committed with offering time-saving, differentiated items and product availa...

Source: Wikimedia Commons The relentless and protracted fight by the United States Justice Department against sports wagering operations based in Costa Rica shows no signs of slowing down. Even as various jurisdictions in that North American nation are considering legalizing and regulating this industry, U.S. prosecutors and law enforcement agents continue to pursue those involved in operating...

News media outlets in Costa Rica are beginning to provide details on the highly controversial Swiss Leaks scandal involving millions upon millions of dollars stashed away in deposit and investment accounts at the controversial HSBC bank in Switzerland. Allegations about the involvement high-profile business people and politicians were reported by the press in Costa Rica, but initial investigations...

Wikimedia Commons Between the months of May and June of 2015, some residents of the Guanacaste region in Costa Rica will be able to enjoy broadband Internet speeds of up to 20 Mbps thanks to a fiber optic cabling project that will be undertaken by the CoopeGuanacaste business consortium. This project is planned to cover the cantonal seats of Nicoya, Filadelfia and Santa Cruz. According to t...

Visitors who arrive in Costa Rica from either the United States or The Netherlands do not have to worry about not being able to find beers that are both iconic and emblematic to their countries of origin. Budweiser and Heineken are just two examples of foreign beers that are brewed in Costa Rica by the Florida Ice &Farm Company (FIFCO), which is gradually becoming a significant player in the l...

Cafe Britt MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwired) - AgilOne, the predictive marketing cloud company, announced in December that the Costa Rica based gourmet, hand-roasted coffee and hand-made chocolate retailer Café Britt became a new customer. Café Britt is a company that prides itself on the unique, authentic and personalized experience each customer has with the brand. They plan to use AgilOne ...

Source: Flickr Commons Author's Note: To get some background on the findings of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) below, please read our previous article on their preliminary recommendations. One of the bottom line recommendations is centered on taxation and its effective enforcement. IMF Executive Board Concludes 2014 Article IV Consultation with Costa Rica Pr...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Despite a recent decision by the Central Bank of Costa Rica to allow the United States dollar (USD) to float freely against the colon (CRC), the country’s sovereign debt remains very high while the deficit becomes tougher to manage. As a result, The Costa Rica Star has recently published press releases from Fitch Ratings, which indicate that the sovereign debt outlook...

Source: Green Lava Longtime readers of The Costa Rica Star are probably familiar with how much the video game development industry has grown in our country over the last few years. Now the time has come for this burgeoning industry to take its first steps towards economic maturity and begin earning recognition in the international stage, which is precisely what the press release below from ind...

The Greenback Starting this Monday, February 2nd, the strongest international currency in the world will no longer be subject to the caps and limits imposed by the Central Bank of Costa Rica over the last eight years. Since October 2006, the value of the United States dollar (USD) against the colón (CRC) was controlled by “bandas cambiarias” (exchange bands), which established a floor and ceil...

In late 2014, when crude oil prices were plunging in the commodities exchanges around the world, consumers were delighted to finally find relief at the pump. In Guatemala, for example, gasoline and diesel prices in December dropped by 23 percent on a year-over-year basis. In Costa Rica, however, the reduction did not even reach 10 percent, and the country still features the most expensive fossil f...

Azimo Screenshot Azimo, a new money transfer network based in London, is quickly expanding its operations with a very enticing offer for people who send remittances to their families abroad. Azimo operates solely online for the purpose of keeping their overhead low and offer the very reasonable fee of just one euro per transfer. In Costa Rica, the physical (brick-and-mortar) cash pick-up l...

Boeing 737 engine Ever since the esteemed airline LACSA ceased operations, air travelers and the aviation community have been anxiously waiting for the day Costa Rica will once again have its very own international airline. That day may come later this year as the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (Spanish initials: DGAC) is preparing to officially certify Air Costa Rica in the next few mo...

Source: Banco Central NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has revised the Rating Outlook on Costa Rica's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the IDRs at 'BB+'. The issue ratings on Costa Rica's senior unsecured foreign and local currency bonds have been affirmed at 'BB+'. The Short-term foreign currency IDR has been affir...

Source: Flickr Commons SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Jan. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Tyrexpo2015, which is poised to become among the Western Hemisphere's most important trade shows, is just 15 weeks away! The three-day event runs fromApril 29 through May 1, 2015 at the Pedregal Convention Center in San Jose, Costa Rica. Anticipation is mounting: The premiere exhibition of Tyrexpo2015 promises to be an ...

Source: RREE Speaking from Beijing on January 8th, President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera used strong words to describe his new foreign policy as it relates to the unprecedented and massive economic agreement between the Republic of Costa Rica and the  People’s Republic of China (PRC). As published in a communiqué issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:   “We are not here to talk ab...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Farmers and grocers in Costa Rica sometimes lament certain facts of free trade and globalization; to with: A significant portion of garlic, rice and even black beans, all staples of traditional cuisine in this country, are actually imported from China. Due to the agricultural economic background of Costa Rica, some may consider this to be a trade imbalance; however, s...

President Solis President Luis Guillermo Solis is hoping for an economic Chinese New Year in Costa Rica. According to a wire report by international news bureau Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) and published by online news daily El Pais, President Solis will visit the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in early 2015, and one of the most important items on his agenda is to drum up interest on the is...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Ligia Fallas, a legislator who represents the Caribbean city of Limon under the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) political party, is standing her ground with regard to a derogatory comment she made about Costa Rica in reaction to a port construction project. Last week, Legislator Fallas took to social network Twitter to express her dissatisfaction over the approval given t...

Source: DrinkBai.com In recent years, e-commerce giant Amazon has become the most efficient of Santa’s helpers. To wit: the company recently released amazing facts about its membership-based Amazon Prime service, which allows online shoppers to get lightning-fast deliveries, expedited service and enticing deals just in time for Christmas. It so happens that the last present delivered by Amazon...

Source: Flickr Commons Since Monday, the number of complaints by workers who have not received their mandatory holiday bonus, known as Aguinaldo, has climbed to 70. According to a report filed by Jarmon Noguera of daily newspaper La Prensa Libre, the Ministry of Labor has entered 24 judicial actions against employers who have not yet paid the 13th month of pay as dictated by law in Costa Rica....

Tax collectors in Costa Rica are ready to start looking for owners of luxury properties who lease their homes for less than 30 days at time; however, they currently lack the legislative approval to do so. This does not mean that preliminary investigations will cease until a law is passed; in fact, revenue investigators will increase their intelligence collection in the next few months.   ...

Source: Tigo CR Tigo Star, one of the largest providers of cable television, broadband Internet and virtual telephony services in Costa Rica, has tendered an application before the Superintendence of Telecommunications (Spanish acronym: SUTEL), to acquire the assets and subscribers of Telecable, a residential and business provider that has a significant presence in the provinces of Alajuela, S...

Wikimedia Commons SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Dec. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) and the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica (COMEX) announced that 39 new investment projects from the sectors of Corporate Services, Life Sciences, Light Manufacturing, Advanced Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Food Industry were attracted to Costa Rica in 2014. Thes...

Earlier this week, Intel Corporation held a formal opening ceremony of its new research, development and testing center in Costa Rica. As reported by tech journalist Marvin Barquero of daily newspaper La Nacion, this is a “mega-laboratory” that will test and validate new products designed by this major chip manufacturer.   The opening of this research and development (R&D) cente...

They are young, undereducated, unemployed, and disenfranchised. In Costa Rica and other parts of Latin America, they are known as the NiNis, an abbreviated portmanteau of “ni estudio, ni trabajo,” which translates into “I don’t study and don’t have a job.” The number of NiNis has been on the rise since 2010, and this has prompted public officials and researchers to take a closer look at this worri...

At the 2014 UN Global South-South Development Expo in Washington, DC, hundreds of participants from 174 government agencies and non-profit organizations gathered to discuss and evaluate 70 proposals to alleviate poverty. Among the programs highlighted at this expo was one proposed and managed by Costa Rica along with two partner nations. Part of the press release from the United Nations explains: ...

Failure to report income from business operations or from professional services rendered through self-employment activities in Costa Rica could result in up to $80K in penalties. Not all business owners or self-employed professionals are potentially affected by this fine; only those who acquired goods up to $5K in value or who rendered a professional service worth more than $100 throughout the tax...