Costa Rica's pineapple sector employs about 32,000 people directly and generates exports of about one billion dollars a year, which is the equivalent of 10 per cent of the country's total exports, according to a report released today. The study, "Economic, Social and Environmental Impact of Pineapple in Costa Rica", conducted by the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE) ...

The tourism industry is many times criticized for the negative impact it can bring to a country, in the case of Costa Rica, it is often that you hear people complaining about the many developments in Guanacaste for example, many of which benefit huge international companies like hotel chains. The effect on the environment is another concern. These feelings were recently expressed by many when t...

Costa Rica's Foreign Minister continued on from his meetings in Qatar last week to other regions of the Middle East to continue to court economic interests in Costa Rica's markets.   Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel González held a private meeting last week as part of his participation at the World Economic Forum in Jordan with His Majesty King Abdallah II of Jordan and Jordanian For...

Countries in the Central American region are the favored recipients of direct foreign investment by Costa Rican firms. According to figures from the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR), over the last 10 years the flow of investments abroad reached US$1.96 billion, and 56 percent of these investments were in Central America. Panama is the top destination, with US$541.1 million over the last dec...

The U.S. dollar continues to gain strength against the Costa Rica colón with a 4.1 point rise over the weekend, according to figures published by the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR). Monday's dollar-colón exchange rate of sale averaged ¢590.57 after strong currency trading, reported the country's business daily El Financiero. The purchase exchange rate stood at ¢577.98. The last time such ...

-- Qatar Airways and Katara Hospitality, a hospitality and tourism investment agency, eye Costa Rica's market. Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel A. González Sanz met Monday with representatives of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce, the Investment Authority - also known as the Sovereign Fund of Qatar, and members of the Qatar Development Fund, said the Foreign Ministry's press office. On this se...

This note summarizes preliminary findings and recommendations of the IMF mission that visited Costa Rica during May 2-15, 2017. The mission is grateful for the high quality and openness of the discussions and for the cooperation and hospitality of the Costa Rican authorities and private sector. I. Recent Developments 1. Both output and growth are at potential, while inflation has reemerged...

An average 45 percent of financial flows out of Costa Rica are considered illicit. This and other data compiled for hundreds of developing countries around the world by the nongovernmental research organization Global Financial Integrity (GFI) was detailed in a report released last week. Illicit funds are estimated to comprise about 2.5 percent of incoming funds to Costa Rica. In regional...

Many in Costa Rica are groaning at the specter of the newly approved ‘tax on legal entities,” better known as the corporate tax law, which is soon to go into effect. If you have a car, house or other personal property held in an inactive or “shelf” company, you will be required to pay a yearly tax on the company, though inactive companies pay the lowest rate. However, the government is givin...

First quarter employment data for 2017 shows a steady unemployment rate of 9.1 percent. On the other hand, the rate of underemployment dropped by 2.8 points compared to the first quarter of 2016, said the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC), meaning more people moved into jobs with greater hours and/or into different job positions. The Institute’s Continuous Employment Survey (ECE, ...

With the recent publication of Costa Rica's consumer price index (CPI), the Census and Statistics Institute (INEC) reported an inter-annual increase in inflation of 1.64 percent in April, which is its highest level in two years. Compared to March, inflation increased 0.15 points, with higher gas prices being largely responsible for the increase in inflation. The CPI has increased steadily si...

In the first four months of the year the price of the dollar on the Monex wholesale market has increased almost 2 percent, according to financial reports. At the beginning of the year, the price of the U.S. currency was 556.06 colones to the dollar, but on Tuesday, May 2 the day closed at 566.97 colones to the dollar, a gain of 10 colones in only four months. "In the banks' windows, the refe...

While Latin America as a whole has experienced marked deforestation, Costa Rica has proved the notable exception, and has sustained and even increased its forest cover, said a climate investigation published in the University of Costa Rica’s weekly Semanario Universidad. What has led to Costa Rica’s success? The United Nations Organization for Agriculture (FAO) says state support and incentives...

The North American-Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) urged Costa Rican entrepreneurs to work within the U.S. government's framework of expanding bilateral trade as Trump steers the U.S. away from multilateral agreements that have generated a trade deficit. San José, April 28, 2017. On the Trump Administration's 100th day, political and economic analysts the world over are sizing things up....

The University of Costa Rica (UCR) will launch a project that seeks to revolutionize the transportation sector in Central America through a new computer application and a web page, announced the institution yesterday. The official launch will take place Friday, April 28, 2017 at the Wyndham Hotel at 8 a.m. At the event, the Caravana application will be officially presented to the Secretariat of...

As the demand for private health services grows by both Costa Ricans and tourists alike, leaders in the sector felt a broader approach to aid in coordination and communication was needed. Earlier this year at its annual assembly, Promed, Costa Rica's long standing medical tourism promotional body voted to change its statutes and to create an expanded body called the "Cámara Costarricense de la Sa...

Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel A. González Sanz met today, April 20, 2017, with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on the sidelines of the meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in Istanbul, Turkey. At the meeting, the Turkish chancellor offered his support for the reconstruction of damages caused by Hurricane Otto in Co...

“Discovery Costa Rica”, a $1 billion eco-tourism park will open in late 2020 near Liberia, Guanacaste, the cost of the project will be covered by Sun Latin America, and Discovery Communications Inc. will license its name to it in an effort to capitalize on followers from its Latin American channels which include Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. The park will include Discovery-branded hotels...

OFID signs first-ever trade finance loan to Costa Rican bank Vienna, Austria, April 12, 2017. The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed a US$15m loan agreement with Scotiabank de Costa Rica S.A (SCB). The transaction represents OFID’s first-ever trade finance loan to the country and was signed by OFID Director-General Suleiman J Al-Herbish and SCB’s President of the Board of...

How often do we hear people complain about how expensive Costa Rica is? Yes, very very often, and it is true that in the past 10 years or so the country has indeed become more expensive, and some articles or items of course, more than others, for instance clothes, shoes, cars, touristic destinations, jewelry, personal care items, electronic devices, electricity are usually very expensive in Costa ...

The fall in economic activity is attributed to negative growth in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the manufacturing industry, and financial and insurance activities. In February, economic activity in Costa Rica increased 3.9 percent, almost 2 points below last February's growth of 5.4 percent, according to the monthly index of economic activity (IMAE, Incide Mensual de Actividad Económica) c...

Costa Rican and Nicaraguan business leaders met yesterday to hammer out a cooperation agreement to further trade between the two countries, said the Costa Rican Private Sector Business Union (UCCAEP, its initials in Spanish) Members of Nicaragua’s Superior Private Business Council (COSEP, its initials in Spanish) traveled to San José for the 1-day session aimed at strengthening relations and co...

The United Nations System and the Government of Costa Rica signed a new Development Assistance Framework for Costa Rica 2018- 2022 (UNDAF) on Friday, March 31. The document defines the cooperation and support pledged by the UN to the country over the next five years in a program named "Nobody Left Behind", said Danilo Mora Díaz, communications officer for the UN System. The activity was atte...

The Coalition for Development Initiatives (Cinde) identified these 10 emerging cities as having the greatest potential in Costa Rica to start attracting new types of investment and increase economic opportunities; they are San Carlos, Liberia, Carrillo, Orotina, Puntarenas, Perez Zeledón, Limón, Pococí, Siquirres, and Turrialba These cities are located in counties which have “a significant degr...

Costa Rica continues its trend of achieving near total renewable energy production with a first quarter record of 99.06 percent, said the National Energy Control Center (CENCE) Hydroelectric makes up the bulk of energy production, which makes the renewables grid vulnerable at certain dry times of the year. State Electrical Institute (ICE) officials said that with summer climaxing in April in...

— Costa Rica’s exports grew 1.4 percent in 2016. The Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) reported this week on Costa Rica’s economic activity. Data from 2016 show an annual growth in exports of about 1.4 percent over 2015; rising from US$9.4 to US$9.5 billion. The country’s “non-traditional” exports, like medical devices and technology-related exports, are second only to fresh pineapple ...

US President Donald Trump would like to see the United Kingdom remain engaged with Europe following Brexit, the White House said Wednesday after the British government formally notified the European Union that it was starting the process of withdrawal from the bloc. "Whatever the future EU-UK relationship looks like, we want the UK to remain a strong leader in Europe," spokesman Sean Spicer tol...

This week the legislature approved in a second and final debate a cooperation agreement between the Republic of Costa Rica and Palestine that supports technical, economic, scientific and cultural cooperation activities, as reported in various Costa Rican media. The original agreement was signed in 2013, but faced some legal hurdles in the legislature. One vocal detractor, National Liberation...

More than one-tenth of people residing in Costa Rica’s indigenous territories can not read or write, and almost 1/5 of people of African descent do not have access to social security, reports the UN. "It is fundamental to improve human development for women, Afro-descendants, indigenous people, people with disabilities, rural dwellers, among other groups," said the United Nations Develop...

Costa Rica shows steady overall improvement in human development, with increasing educational opportunities and income rates, but with nagging concerns over gender equity and growing economic inequality. This was revealed in the latest Human Development Index (HDI) published this week by the United Nations Development Program. Costa Rica is currently situated in 9th place in human developmen...

After clearing the constitutional court for any potential anomalies, Costa Rican legislators voted last week to approve the return of the annual corporate tax. Every year in July, those holding any type of S.A., limited liability corporation, including foreign companies, registered in the National Registry in Costa Rica must pay an annual fee for each corporation which ranges from about US$119 ...

Who should cover women’s maternity leave? Private companies, the state, or both? In Costa Rica, maternity leave has traditionally been a shared responsibility, but has often been criticized as harming women’s employment prospects, as employers can be reluctant to take on the extra costs in the event a woman gets pregnant. And firing a pregnant woman in Costa Rica is against the law, precisely t...

  Costa Rican pineapples obtained the green light to be sold in the Chinese market, announced Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX) yesterday. There are currently at least 20 companies interested in exporting pineapples to China. Dialogue with China on the possibility of exporting pineapple from Costa Rican began in 2010 when the pineapple sector expressed an interest in export...

Traffic look bad, too hot to go out, or want to order in for a company meeting? Eateries and grocery stores are beating traffic to reach more people in their homes and offices with expanded express delivery services, reported the companies this week. Quiznos, with 31 outlets in Costa Rica, and Teriyaki, with seven, recently implemented express delivery in the areas surrounding Lindora near S...

- Only 5 percent of the tuna caught in Costa Rican waters is hauled in by local boats. Data from a recent study by the non-profit marine conservation foundation, MarViva, shows Costa Rica lagging behind in the tuna fishery industry, a resource that could aid struggling coastal economies. “At a time when the fisheries sector is in crisis, the country's fishing resources must be managed in a sci...

Thousands of hectares of forested ecosystems have been cleared in Costa Rica to provide cropland for pineapples in recent years, according to what Mauricio Alvarez, president of the Costa Rican Conservationist Federation (FECON) told EFE on Tuesday. "In 15 years, they cut down 725,000 trees, (causing) irreversible damage to the country. Complaints were never able to stand in the way ... althoug...

Brussels, Mar 6 — Agriculture ministers from European Union member states on Monday approved a new organic produce deal with Chile, announced the European Council. In a press release, the EC said the deal — the first of this kind with a Latin American country — would allow the two parties to recognize their rules and control systems as equivalent, meaning organic produce from the EU could be so...

Moscow, Mar 3 — Bilateral relations between Russia and the Central American nation of El Salvador continue to develop well, said the Russian foreign minister upon meeting his Salvadoran counterpart on Friday. Sergey Lavrov held a meeting with Hugo Martinez Bonilla in the Russian capital, Moscow. "Within three months we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of (Russian-Salvad...

Wall Street closed with strong gains on Wednesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the main market indicator, rising 1.45 percent and ending the day above 21,000 for the first time in history in the wake of President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress. All the major indexes moved into record territory, with the DJIA up 303.31 points to 21,115.55 at the close of t...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson It’s all about money. That's why investigators always say, “Follow the money.” Politicians follow the money. Criminals follow the money. Wall Street bankers follow the money. Immigrants follow the money. Innovation follows the money...