$470 million FDI in Costa Rican Free Zones

A statement from the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE) reads:

Costa Rica attracted $470 million in investment in free zones in 2011

• Positive figures for employment, investment and new projects were recorded for the year.

San Jose, January 16th , 2012: The Minister of Foreign Trade, Anabel Gonzalez, the President of the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE), Jose Rossi and the Director General of CINDE, Gabriela Llobet, presented this morning national results obtained in terms of attracting FDI up to the third quarter of 2011 and total investment results in free zones, as well as providing an analysis of the prospects for 2012.

As a starting point, Minister González said that recent Central Bank data showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) amounted to $1.5 billion up to the third quarter of 2011, 84% of the $1.85 billion target set for 2011. The accumulated FDI up to the third quarter of 2010 was $1,025.2 million, which showcases an increase of 52% between 2011 and 2010.

More on this topic

Call Centers Continue to Grow

March 2012

Costa Rica has established itself as service center for international companies, who are encouraged by its human capital and the fact that it is in the same U.S. time zone.

About 110 service companies in the free zone generated $1.66 billion in 2011, equivalent to 33% of the county’s total exports.

President Confirms More Taxes in Free Zones

October 2011

Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica's president, has defended the political pact that will allow the approval of a tax package that includes tax increases in the zones.

The president defended her new tax reform plan despite strong opposition from the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

Balance of Free Zones in Costa Rica

October 2011

The Foreign Trade Promoter has revealed in a study the benefits that free trade zones contribute to the country, including the 58 thousand jobs that pay 60% above the average private sector salary.

From a press release by PROCOMER:

A study by PROCOMER reveals the benefits of free zones in Costa Rica:

The Costa Rican Ministry of Commerce (Comex) expedites free zone reforms

October 2008

Comex is negotiating at the political level so that the free zone reform project can be send to the Legislative Assembly in December.

The initiative will modify incentives to companies that setup up in Costa Rica under this system, in order to have incentives that are in accordance with the regulations of the World Trade Organization (WTO).